Combustion Characteristics in a Two-staged Microcombustor for a Micro Reformer System

초소형 리포머용 2단 초소형 연소기 내 연소특성에 관한 연구

A new microcombustor configuration for a micro fuel-cell reformer integrated with a micro evaporator was studied experimentally and computationally. The present microcombustor is simply cylindrical to be easily fabricated but two-staged, expending downstream, to feasibly control ignition and stable burning. Results show that the aspect ratio of the first stage and the wall thickness of the microcombustors substantially affect ignition and thermal characteristics. For the optimized design conditions, a premixed microflame was easily ignited in the expanded second stage combustor, moved into the smaller first stage combustor, and finally stabilized therein. The measured and predicted temperature distributions across the microcombustor walls indicated that heat generated in the microcombustor is well transferred. Thus, the present microcombustor configuration could be applied to the practical micro reformers integrated with a micro evaporator for use of fuel cells.