Performance of a mesoscale liquid fuel‐film combustion‐driven TPV power system

Abstract

Combustion-driven thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems have obtained increasing attention in recent decades, but most studies have focused on developing narrowband photovoltaic cells and selective emitters. In terms of the heat source, conventional combustion configurations and light gaseous fuels are extensively utilized in macro-or meso-scale TPV power systems to simplify thermal management and mechanical fabrication. As far as miniaturization is concerned, however, fuelling these systems with liquid hydrocarbons would provide inherent advantages of high energy density and low volatility. Liquid fuels also promise easy and safe fuel recharging for small-scale power systems. In this paper, a central porous-medium combustor was employed in a small scale TPV power system. The combustor incorporated an emitting chamber wall and a heat recuperator. The radiant efficiency and overall efficiency were compared using different liquid hydrocarbon fuels in the system. The electric output characteristics of the combustion driven TPV system have been investigated to demonstrate the feasibility of a GaSb cell-based TPV power system and to provide design guidance for mesoscale liquid-burning TPV systems.

Enhancement of methane combustion in microchannels: Effects of catalyst segmentation and cavities

“…Hydrocarbon fuels provide energy storage of typically 45 MJ kg −1 , whereas the best currently available batteries (lithium-ion) provide only about 0.5 MJ kg −1 . Even at 10% conversion efficiency from thermal to electrical energy, the energy storage density of hydrocarbon fuels is over 10 times higher than that of batteries [5][6][7]. Other advantages of hydrocarbon fuels over conventional batteries include low cost, no memory effect, and instant rechargeability.…”

Numerical and Experimental Studies of Mixing Enhancement and Flame Stabilization in a Meso-Scale TPV Combustor With a Porous-Medium Injector and a Heat-Regeneration Reverse Tube

“…Recently, the concept was applied to small-scale combustors to enhance flame stability [30]. The present study proposes and discusses a mesoscale design of a swirl combustor coupled with a transparent heat-regeneration reverse tube and a mixing-enhancing porousmedium fuel injector that improves the low illumination and incomplete combustion problems associated with miniature TPV systems [16,17]. Although collocating a reverse tube and a porous medium in a small-scale combustor mitigates the shortcomings of incomplete combustion and short residence time, it increases the complexity of the flow field and combustion in the meso-scale combustor.…”

“…TPV cogeneration systems, where the waste heat is utilized, have been extended to small scales [14][15][16][17]. In general, small TPV power systems consist of a combustion chamber, with its wall serving as an emitter, and a photovoltaic (PV) array.…”

A prototype micro-thermoelectric power generator for micro-electromechanical systems

“…3,4 Many concepts have been proposed to convert the heat energy released from combustion to electrical power such as Micro-gas turbine engines, 1,5 Wankel engines, 3 micro thermoelectric, [6][7][8][9][10][11] and micro thermophotovoltaic systems. [12][13][14] The performance of many of these systems deteriorates due to high surface-area to volume ratio which increases the heat-loss from microcombustor to surroundings. However, the increased heat-loss from microcombustor walls is advantageous towards the design of non-mechanical power generators, such as thermophotovoltaics (TPV) and thermoelectrics (thermoelectric power generator, TEG), and expected to help improve their overall energy conversion efficiency.…”