A review of enhancing micro combustion to improve energy conversion performance in micro power system

With the development of microfabrication technology and micro devices, the demand for Power Micro Electro Mechanical System (Power MEMS) is ever-increasing. However, traditional chemical batteries are not suitable for Power MEMS due to their low energy density. The combustion of hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels offers a more promising alternative to conventional batteries. However, micro combustion faces the problems of flame instability and low combustion efficiency. Therefore, improving flame stabilization and combustion efficiency in micro combustions is necessary. Studies have made considerable progress in these aspects over the last decade. This paper summarized these studies and classified the optimization schemes according to flame stabilization and combustion efficiency. Besides, research on the Field Synergy Principle was discussed. The synergy between the flow field and temperature gradient field in the micro-scale domain will become a key research area in the future. It is proposed to insert porous media in MTES and MTPVS and adopt catalytic combustion. Adding hydrogen to the mixed gas was recommended. The equivalence ratio of the mixed gas in the range of 0.9-1.1 would be best. The equivalence ratio is the ratio of the theoretical requirement of air with complete combustion to the actual supply of air. (C) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

With the development of technology, the demand for Power MEMS is increasing, traditional chemical batteries are not suitable for this field. Combustion of hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels is a promising alternative, but micro combustion faces problems of instability and low efficiency. Therefore, improving flame stability and combustion efficiency in micro combustion is necessary.