Development of Micro Thermophotovoltaic Power Generation System Using Micro Ceramic Combustor

Y. Suzuki, N. Kasagi, Yong Fan, A. Ueno, W. Lin, K Nanaeda, D. Kirikae, K. Ishida, and S. Ito

Overview

Microscale energy sources are attracting much attention targeting at their application to mobile electronic devices, small-scale welfare equipments and autonomous robot such as micro air vehicle.

Especially, conversion of chemical energy to electric energy inside those mobile devices has merits, because the energy density of chemical fuels is two orders of magnitude higher that that of high-performance secondary battery. In the present study, we aim at development of micro thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system using micro ceramic combustor. Advantages of such system are three folds; firstly, TPV systems will provide power generation per unit area that is one order of magnitude larger than DMFC. Secondly, no active device for peripheral such as pumps or valves is required.

So far, we have fabricated micro catalytic combustor using high-precision ceramic tape casting technology, which is developed for LSI packaging technology. We successfully integrate nano-porous alumina layer in the ceramic microchannel as the catalytic layer. This combustor yields a combustion density of several 100 MW/m^3. We have also developed a micro supersonic ejector, which introduces air into the combustor using the fuel pressure. It is demostrated that micro ejector with micro supersonic nozzle produces enough air-flow intake. Selective emitter using microcavities for higher energy conversion efficiency is also under development by using NEMS/MEMS technologies.

Currently, design of micro catalytic combustor with higher performance, investigation of quenching mechanisms of homogeneous combustion in micro channels are ongoing. We also work on development and evaluation of a micro TPV system.

Sponsor:

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) [PI: Y. Suzuki]

Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) [PI: Y. Suzuki]

 

Micro catalytic combustor using high-precision ceramic tape casting technology (Kamijo et al., 2009)

Prototype Radiation Spectral Control Device Fabricated with Si Nanolithography (Takagi et al., 2007)

Recent Report

(Micro-scale Catalytic Combustor)
  • Kamijo, T., Suzuki, Y., Kasagi, N., and Okamasa, T.,
    "High-temperature Micro Catalytic Combustor with Pd/Nano-porous Alumina,"
    Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 32, 8pp. (2009).
  • Okamasa, T., Lee, G.-G., Suzuki, Y., Kasagi, N., and Matsuda, S.,
    "Micro Catalytic Combustor Using High-Precision Ceramic Tape Casting,"
    J. Micromech. Microeng., Vol. 16, No. 9, (2006), S198-S205.
    (PDF 1.2 Mbytes).
  • Suzuki, Y., Saito, J., and Kasagi, N.,
    "Development of Micro Catalytic Combustor with Pt/Al2O3 Thin Films,"
    JSME Int. J., Vol. 47, No. 3, Ser. B, (2004), pp. 522-527.
    (PDF 204 kbytes).

(Quenching Mechanism of Premixed Combustion in Micro Channel)

  • Fan, Y., Suzuki, Y., and Kasagi, N.,
    "Experimental Study of Micro-scale Premixed Flame in Quartz Channels,"
    32nd Int. Symp. Combustion (Combustion 2008), Montreal, Canada, August 3-8, 2008, Book of Abstract, p. 18, 1E09.
  • Fan, Y., Suzuki, Y., and Kasagi, N.,
    "Flame Propagation and Quenching in Ultra-Thin Quartz Combustors,"
    7th Int. Workshop on Micro and Nanotechnology for Power Generation and Energy Conversion Applications (PowerMEMS 2007), Freiburg, (2007), pp. 265-268.
    (PDF 520 kbytes)

(Radiation Spectral Control with Submicron Periodic Structure)

  • Takagi, D., Suzuki, Y., and Kasagi, N.,
    "Pyrolyzed Parylene Structure as Selective Emitter for High-Efficiency Thermophotovoltaic,"
    Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. MEMS 2007, Kobe, (2007), pp. 883-886.
    (PDF 628 kbytes)

(Micro Ejector)

  • Fan, Y., Suzuki, Y., and Kasagi, N.,
    "Development of Large-Entrainment-Ratio Supersonic Ejector for Micro Butane Combustor,"
    J. Micromech. Microeng., Vol. 16, No. 9, (2006), S211-S219.
    (PDF 760 kbytes).

Last update: 2008-10-5