Effects of Wall Thickness on Flame Stabilization Limits for Combustors with Wire Mesh

Fudhail Abdul Munir; Muhmmad Ikhwan Muazzam; Abdel Gader; Masato Mikami; Herman Saputro; Laila Fitriana

Authors

Fudhail Abdul Munir Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya Melaka, Malaysia
Muhmmad Ikhwan Muazzam Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya Melaka, Malaysia
Abdel Gader Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya Melaka, Malaysia
Masato Mikami Department of Mechanical Engineering, GraduateSchool of Science and Engineering, Yamaguchi University, Japan
Herman Saputro Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia
Laila Fitriana Department of Mathematics Education, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia

Keywords:

Flame stabilization limits, wall thermal conductivity, Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

Abstract

The scarcity of energy has led to the invention of alternative solutions to the conventional power generators. Micro-power generation system is one of the potential sustainable solutions that provide better energy resource for small electronic devices as compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries. The difficulty to stabilize the flame in micro-combustors is the main obstacle faced by researchers, which is hugely caused from heat loss. Nevertheless, huge efforts towards attaining flame stabilization have been made within this few years back. In this research, the effect of combustor thickness on the flame stabilization limits of micro combustors with stainless steel wire mesh has been investigated. Numerical simulations were performed using a two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) steady-state model. The governing equations were solved using ANSYS Release 16.2 with Fluent capability. From the results, it is suggested that the flame stabilization limits for the combustors made of quartz tube has a direct relationship with the wall thickness. Nevertheless, the strategy of improving flame stabilization limits by increasing the wall thickness has a limited range of effectiveness.