A novel micro-combustor with dual-inlets hedging and center opening for enhancing comprehensive performance of micro thermophotovoltaic system

Abstract

Micro-combustor outer wall temperature uniformity is a critical bottleneck in the widespread application of micro thermophotovoltaic system. In this study, we proposed a novel micro-combustor with dual-inlets hedging and center opening structure to improve the wall temperature distribution and achieve a stable and high-energy of micro thermophotovoltaic system output, and we applied the overall performance evaluation criteria to evaluate the performance of micro thermophotovoltaic system comprehensively. Initially, we conducted a comparative analysis among the traditional micro-combustor, the single rectangular center opening, and the double rectangular center opening micro-combustor. The findings indicate that the double rectangular center opening micro-combustor exhibits superior comprehensive thermal performance, showcasing a mean outer wall temperature and temperature standard deviation of 1362.05 K and 32.77 K, bringing better temperature uniformity. Then, the center opening distance of the double rectangular center opening micro-combustor was optimized from 0.5 mm to 3.0 mm, the results reveal that the double rectangular center opening micro-combustor with a distance of 2.5 mm possesses the best comprehensive performance, specifically, temperature standard deviation and overall performance evaluation criteria values of 23.17 K and 4.882. Ultimately, the effect of inlet velocity on the thermal performance was investigated, revealing that an increase in inlet velocity stimulates the output energy, but concurrently diminishing the energy conversion efficiency, leading to a reduction in overall thermal performance. This study introduces a novel concept for designing micro-combustor structures for promoting overall performance of micro thermophotovoltaic systems.