Combustion Characteristics of Hydrogen/Air Mixtures in a Plasma-Assisted Micro Combustor

Giacomo Cinieri, Donato Fontanarosa and Maria Grazia De Giorgi ()
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Giacomo Cinieri: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Donato Fontanarosa: Applied Mechanics and Energy Conversion (TME), KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Maria Grazia De Giorgi: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-20

Abstract: This work performs an analysis of plasma-assisted non-premixed H 2 -air flames in Y-shaped micro combustors in the presence of field emission dielectric barrier discharge (FE-DBD) plasma actuators. The combustion, flow, and heat transfer characteristics are numerically investigated, and the effect of sinusoidal plasma discharges on combustion performance is examined at various equivalence ratios (φ). A coupled plasma and chemical kinetic model is implemented, using a zero-dimensional model based on the solution of the Boltzmann equation and the ZDPlasKin toolbox to compute net charges and radical generation rates. The estimated body forces, radical production rates, and power densities in the plasma regions are then coupled with hydrogen combustion in the microchannel. Plasma-assisted combustion reveals improvements in flame length and maximum gas temperature. The results demonstrate that FE-DBDs can enhance mixing and complete the combustion of unreacted fuel, preventing flame extinction. It is shown that even in cases of radical and thermal quenching, these plasma actuators are essential for stabilizing the flame.

Keywords: microscale combustion; plasma assisted combustion; sinusoidal discharge; microburners; flame wall interaction; plasma actuator; dielectric barrier discharge; plasma; ionization degree; chemical kinetics (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: 2023
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