Orthogonal Experimental Design and Fuzzy Grey Relational Analysis for emitter efficiency of the micro-cylindrical combustor with a step

The micro combustor is the key component in the micro thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system. Moreover, emitter efficiency is the most important performance parameter of micro combustors. In this work, a method for evaluating the effects of various factors on the emitter efficiency of micro combustors is proposed. Firstly, the Orthogonal Experimental Design (OED) is employed for obtaining the simulation conditions of test cases. Then, the impacts of four factors (H-2/air equivalence ratio, H-2 flow rate, wall thermal conductivity and wall emissivity) on emitter efficiency are evaluated by fuzzy membership grades and Euclidean grey relational grades, respectively. Finally, Fuzzy Grey Relational Analysis (FGRA) was employed to make a comprehensive evaluation. Results show that the fuzzy grey relational grades of the four factors are 0.7817, 0.5317, 0.7042 and 0.7018, respectively, meaning that the impacts of the four factors are ranked from the most important to the least important as H-2/air equivalence ratio, thermal conductivity, wall emissivity and H-2 flow rate. This work offers us great reference value for optimizing micro combustors. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.