The mathematical modeling of heat transfer in micro-combustor

The performance of a new generation of miniaturized thrusters for micro-satellites, and miniaturized power systems being developed to replace batteries, depends very strongly on the efficiency and the power density of their sub-millimeter to millimeter-scale combustors. Combustion in micro-scale combustors is an emerging, fast-growing research field. One of the important parameters in the combustion phenomena of micro- combustor is the heat transfer from the wall to its surrounding. This effect has been studied by some researchers. Recently, Daou and Matalon [1,2] investigated the effects of velocity, heat loss to the structure and passage width on premixed flames propagating in channels with constant-temperature walls. They showed that burning rate decreased as the heat transfer coefficient between the wall and the environment increased. Ronney [3] derived a model that used a perfectly stirred reactor to study non-adiabatic combustion in heat-recirculating combustors where heat from the post-flame region is transferred upstream to pre-heat the incoming reactants. This work showed that streamwise heat conduction within the structure of the combustor is a dominating effect at the microscale. Recent analytical and numerical work by Leach et al. [4] demonstrated similar effects in micro-channels.In the present study, one-dimensional and two-dimensional analytical simulation is carried out in order to show the significant impact of the heat transfer in the micro-combustor and consequently the variation of some important parameters in the heat transfer phenomena such as Peclet and Nusselt numbers is illustrated in the figures