Development of a small power generation system with a miniature-scale swirl burner, controlled heat transfer, and thermoelectric generators

Abstract

Abstract Recent advances in small power-consuming electric devices have increased the demand for appropriate, compact, rapidly rechargeable, lightweight, and long-lived power sources with higher energy densities. Hydrocarbon fuels are capable of providing high specific energy density, so combustion-based power generators have received increasing attention as an interesting alternative to batteries. In this study, a small power generation system using a miniature-scale swirl burner, two thermoelectric generators (TEGs), a heat medium, and two water blocks as heat sink has been developed. Various swirl strengths ranging from 0 to 1 are studied to find the optimum swirl number (vane angle) for the blow-out limit. The swirl number related to the greatest stable region is found 0.5 which is associated with the 30 ° vane angle for the 3D printed axial swirlers. Because normal-butane is easily liquified and stored, and is in the gas phase at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, it is chosen as the fuel. This paper examines the effect of three thermal input powers of 194 , 291 , and 388 W along with various airflow rates on the performance of the power generation system at the 30 ° vane angle swirler. The results show that about 3 min is needed for our system to reach a steady power output. Moreover, it is observed that the maximum output power is found at the load resistance of R load = 3 Ω for studied operating conditions. Besides, it is shown that by considering the airflow rate fixed, the power output of the system increases with an increase in the fuel flow rate (thermal input power). Furthermore, a maximum power output of 17.2 W is obtained for the fuel flow rate and an airflow rate of 0.200 slpm ( ≈ 388 W ) and 2.7 slpm , respectively, which corresponds to a conversion efficiency of about 4.5 % at R = 3 Ω load resistance.