An all-metallic microburner for a millimeter-scale thermophotovoltaic generator

Thermophotovoltaics (TPVs) is the conversion of heat to electricity via the thermal emission of photons and their subsequent absorption and conversion to electricity by infrared photovoltaic cells. One of the key challenges is designing a robust microburner with an integrated selective emitter—and having the system operate at 1000°C for thousands of hours. Previous attempts at TPV system demonstrations tend to be large, inefficient, and have limited lifetimes. Here we present a novel all metallic microburner design and experimental results in the context of a proposed small, robust, and efficient TPV generator. Fabricated entirely by machining and welding, the microburner is comprised of a serpentine channel in a 20 × 20 mm slab of Inconel with inlet and outlet capillaries that double as mechanical supports. The microburner has a thermal power input of 50 to 100 W and reaches temperatures of 700 to 1100°C. The metallic microburner is robust under high temperature operation and a 2D tantalum photonic crystal can be attached by welding for high fuel-to-electricity conversion efficiency. We characterized the microburner's exhaust composition and temperature distribution which matched well with CFD simulations. We operated the microburner at 60 W of input power (reaching about 1000°C) for 135 hours before it failed.