Enhancing thermal, electrical efficiencies of a miniature combustion‐driven thermophotovoltaic system

Methods to enhance the thermal and electrical efficiencies through novel design of combustion and thermal management of the combustor in a miniature thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system are proposed, discussed, and demonstrated in this paper. The miniature TPV system consists of a swirling combustor surrounded by GaSb PV cell arrays. The swirl combustor design, along with a heat-regeneration reverse tube and mixing-enhancing porous-medium fuel injection, improves the low illumination and incomplete combustion problems associated with typical miniature TPV systems. A reverse tube is used to enforce swirling flame attachment to the inner wall of the emitter by pushing the swirl recirculation zone back into the chamber and simultaneously redirecting the hot product gas for reheating the outer surface of the emitter. The porous medium fuel injector is used as a fuel/air mixing enhancer and as a flame stabilizer to anchor the flame. The miniature TPV system, using different combustor configurations, is tested and discussed. Results indicate that the proposed swirling combustor with a reverse tube and porous medium can improve the intensity and uniformity of the emitter illumination, and can increase the thermal radiant efficiency. Consequently, the overall thermal efficiency and electrical output of the miniature TPV system are greatly enhanced. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  G. W. Charache,et al.  High-quantum-efficiency 0.5 eV GaInAsSb/GaSb thermophotovoltaic devices , 1999 .

[2]  Derek Dunn-Rankin,et al.  Progress in miniature liquid film combustors: Double chamber and central porous fuel inlet designs , 2008 .

[3]  C. Dasch,et al.  One-dimensional tomography: a comparison of Abel, onion-peeling, and filtered backprojection methods. , 1992, Applied optics.

[4]  Derek Dunn-Rankin,et al.  Personal power systems , 2005 .

[5]  Bernd Bitnar,et al.  Characterisation of rare earth selective emitters for thermophotovoltaic applications , 2002 .

[6]  Fatih Dogan,et al.  A Highly Efficient NiO-Doped MgO Matched Emitter for Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion , 2001 .

[7]  Wenming Yang,et al.  Development of a prototype micro-thermophotovoltaic power generator , 2004 .

[8]  A. Carlos Fernandez-Pello,et al.  Micropower generation using combustion: Issues and approaches , 2002 .

[9]  Xin Zhang,et al.  A six-wafer combustion system for a silicon micro gas turbine engine , 2000, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

[10]  Paul D. Ronney,et al.  Gas-phase and catalytic combustion in heat-recirculating burners , 2004 .

[11]  K. Qiu,et al.  Thermophotovoltaic power generation systems using natural gas-fired radiant burners , 2007 .

[12]  Richard A. Yetter,et al.  Asymmetric whirl combustion: A new low NOx approach , 2000 .

[13]  Yu-Bin Chen,et al.  Microscale radiation in thermophotovoltaic devices—A review , 2007 .

[14]  C. Shu,et al.  Research on micro-thermophotovoltaic power generators , 2003 .

[15]  Bo Feng,et al.  The development of a micropower (micro-thermophotovoltaic) device , 2007 .

[16]  M. Kevin Drost,et al.  Miniaturization Technologies for Advanced Energy Conversion and Transfer Systems , 2000 .

[17]  Derek Dunn-Rankin,et al.  Combustion in a Meso-Scale Liquid-Fuel-Film Combustor with Central-Porous Fuel Inlet , 2008 .

[18]  Y. Chao,et al.  OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CATALYTIC COMBUSTION IN A PLATINUM MICROTUBE , 2004 .