Examining Thermal Management Strategies for a Microcombustion Power Device

Bhanuprakash Reddy Guggilla, Jack Perelman Camins, Benjamin Taylor and Smitesh Bakrania
Additional contact information
Bhanuprakash Reddy Guggilla: Mechanical Engineering Department, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA
Jack Perelman Camins: Mechanical Engineering Department, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA
Benjamin Taylor: Mechanical Engineering Department, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA
Smitesh Bakrania: Mechanical Engineering Department, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: Microcombustion attracts interest with its promise of energy dense power generation for electronics. Yet, challenges remain to develop this technology further. Thermal management of heat losses is a known hurdle. Simultaneously, non-uniformities in heat release within the reaction regions also affect the device performance. Therefore a combination of thermal management strategies are necessary for further performance enhancements. Here, a bench top platinum nanoparticle based microcombustion reactor, coupled with thermoelectric generators is used. Methanol-air mixtures achieve room temperature ignition within a catalytic cartridge. In the current study, the reactor design is modified to incorporate two traditional thermal management strategies. By limiting enthalpic losses through the exhaust and reactor sides, using multi-pass preheating channels and heat recirculation, expected improvements are achieved. The combined strategies doubled the power output to 1.01 W when compared to the previous design. Furthermore, a preliminary study of catalyst distribution is presented to mitigate non-uniform catalytic activity within the substrate. To do this, tailored distribution of catalyst particles was investigated. This investigation shows a proof-of-concept to achieve localized control, thus management, over heat generation within substrates. By optimizing heat generation, a highly refined combustion-based portable power devices can be envisioned.

Keywords: microcombustion; catalysis; thermoelectric; platinum; nanoparticles; methanol (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6322/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6322/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:19:p:6322-:d:649424

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().