Effects of wall thickness and material on flame stability in a planar micro-combustor

Flame is prone to lose its stability in micro-combustors due to the large amount of heat loss from the external walls. On the other hand, heat recirculation through the upstream combustor walls can enhance flame stability. These two aspects depend on the structural heat transfer, which is associated with the thickness and thermal conductivity of the combustor walls. In the present study, the effects of wall thickness and material on flame stability were numerically investigated by selecting two thicknesses (delta=0.2 and 0.4 mm) and two materials (quartz and SiC). The results show that when delta=0.2 mm, flame inclination occurs at a certain inlet velocity in both combustors, but it happens later in SiC combustor. For delta=0.4 mm, flame inclination still occurs in quartz combustor from a larger inlet velocity compared to the case of delta=0.2 mm. However, flame inclination in SiC combustor with delta=0.4 mm does not happen and it has a much larger blowout limit. Analysis reveals that a thicker wall can enhance heat recirculation and reduce heat loss simultaneously. Moreover, SiC combustor has larger heat recirculation ratio and smaller heat loss ratio. In summary, the micro-combustor with thicker and more conductive walls can harvest large flame stability limit.