Development of Optimized Combustors and Thermoelectric Generators for Palm Power Generation

Abstract

The major technical accomplishments for the development of a mesoscale catalytic combustor to be coupled with direct energy conversion modules for electric power production are summarized. Most importantly, clean and efficient combustion of complex hydrocarbon mixtures, such as the notoriously problematic JP-8, has been accomplished. Using gas chromatographic analysis of the exhaust gases, a combustion efficiency on the order of 99% is estimated. The device was successfully coupled to a free piston Stirling engine in preliminary experiments. In addition, fundamental studies were pursued on liquid fuel dispersion by the electrospray technique with both conventional manufacturing techniques and microfabrication, on the chemical kinetics of JP-8 surrogates and on the development of advanced laser diagnostics for JP-8 combustion systems.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 26, 2004
Accession Number
ADA427416

Entities

People

  • Alessandro Gomez

Organizations

  • Yale University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Catalysts
  • Classification
  • Combustion
  • Combustors
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Efficiency
  • Electric Fields
  • Electrospray
  • Engines
  • Flow Rate
  • Fluids
  • Gases
  • Generators
  • Heat Engines
  • Hydrocarbons
  • Liquids
  • Thermodynamic Cycles

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Electrical Engineering

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy