Experimental studies on a micro power generator using thermo-electric modules mounted on a micro-combustor

In this paper, experimental investigations on micro power generation using thermoelectric modules installed around a microcombustor are studied. The work is aimed at developing a combustion based micro power generator as an alternative to low power density electrochemical batteries. A three step micro-combustor is fabricated with mild-steel as the material. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-air mixture is used as fuel-air mixture to operate the microcombustor. A heating cup is used to increase the heat recirculation from hot combustion products thereby enhancing the flame stability limits. The heating cup is fabricated using aluminum material to obtain uniform temperature distribution for improved power generation at smallest scales. The overall conversion efficiency of the micro power generator has been observed to increase with the number of modules mounted on the micro-combustor system as compared to two and one modules. An overall conversion efficiency of 1.2% for one module, 2.56% for two modules and 4.6% for four module configuration was achieved. The overall conversion efficiency reported in the present work is highest for such small scale combustion based micro power generators in comparison to earlier work reported in the literature. A maximum power of 1.56 and 2.35W respectively is obtained for two and four module configurations. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.