Liquid Fuel Combustion in Mesoscale

Abstract

Micro- and meso-scale combustion as a component of micro-power generator has been investigated intensively, mainly for gaseous fuels. It is desirable to develop a microcombustor with liquid hydrocarbon fuels, which have relatively high energy densities, about two orders higher specific energy (energy per unit mass) than that of a lithium ion battery and about one order higher volumetric energy density than that of gaseous fuels. Several studies have been conducted on mesoscale combustors with liquid hydrocarbon fuel. It is difficult to keep stable flame inside a narrow space, due to limitation by inadequate residence time for complete vaporization and high heat loss rate associated with the increase in surface to volume ratio. Electrospray technique is often employed to produce a fine and controllable spray to solve the former issue. The latter issue is solved using catalyst or heat recirculation. This paper reports recent progress in liquid fuel combustion in a mesoscale tube using electrospray technique without catalyst.