Entrepreneurship and the Need for Sustainable New Technologies in Power Generation

The increase of micro and nano devices has led to the miniaturization and multi-functionalization of micro-mechanical, communication, imaging, sensing, chemical analytical and biomedical devices. The devices so mentioned above need power sources that are portable, have short charging time, longevity, high energy density and are environmentally friendly. Chemical batteries hitherto used to be the major power source for these devices but have a drawback of having low energy density. The energy density of the most improved lithium-ion battery was in the region of 0.2 kWh/kg. Micro-combustor is one of the most important components of the micro thermophotovoltaic (MTPV) conversion device. This work used numerical simulation to investigate the effect of Micro pin fin arrays on combustion. Using a micro combustor with micro pin-fin arrays inserted, it was observed the fins widened the region of combustion and extended the blow-off limit in the combustor. The fins exerted great influence on combustion as flow rate increased and thus improved the temperature distribution of the wall. The combustor with fins possessed higher heat flux in comparison with combustor without fins. There was combustion stability at inlet velocity of 4 m/s making the micro pin-fin array configuration ideal for MTPV application. The results obtained will be useful in designing a MTPV.