The analytical investigation of premixed combustion in cylindrical micro-combustor

Journal article, 2011

In this study, an analytical model for heat recirculation in cylindrical micro-combustors is presented, including the effects of heat transfer from the product gas stream in the reaction zone and post-flame region to the reactant in the preheat zone, structural heat conduction through the combustor walls and heat loss to ambient. Eventually, the explicit expression for the flame speed in non-adiabatic condition and the implicit expression for adiabatic condition are obtained in this research. In addition, comparison is made between adiabatic and non-adiabatic flame speeds. It is demonstrated that the streamwise heat conduction through the structure of combustor plays an important role in the flame broadening in both adiabatic and non-adiabatic conditions. Moreover, it is shown that reducing the size of the combustor to a submillimetre scale extremely increases the surface-to-volume ratio, leading to the decrease in the flame speed and flame quenching.