Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188

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Fuel Processing Technology

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Thermal performance of a micro combustor with heat recirculation

Upendra W. Taywade, Anil A. Deshpande, Sudarshan Kumar ⁎
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, numerical and experimental investigations in a three‐step microcombustor have been carried out
Received 7 September 2012 to understand the effect of heat recirculation on flame stabilization behavior with premixed fuel–air mixtures.
Received in revised form 15 October 2012 External heating cup is utilized to enhance the heat recirculation. From numerical simulations, it was observed
Accepted 1 November 2012
that the extent of heat recirculation is a function of cup dimensions, cup material, and flow velocity and mixture
Available online 24 November 2012
equivalence ratio. Heat recirculation has been observed to significantly enhance the flame stability limits and
Keywords:
upper flame stability limits were observed for the range of flow rates investigated during the present work.
Flame stability Stable flames exist for smaller flow rates with a minimum thermal input of ~2.2 W at Φ =0.5. X‐shaped spinning
Heat recirculation flames exist for inter‐mediate flow rate conditions with and without heat recirculation for a broad range of
Micro combustion equivalence ratios. These X‐shaped flames rotate around the axis at ~100–150 Hz frequency. The average com-
Spinning flames bustor wall temperature increases with the flow velocity for the stable flame mode and remain mostly uniform
and well distributed for the X‐shaped spinning flame mode. Heat recirculation helps in increasing the mean wall
temperature of the combustor by ~100–400 K.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The processes like hydrogenation, gasification, and pyrolysis of fuels
require a prescribed temperature distribution and high temperature to
achieve higher conversion efficiencies. Due to high surface to volume
ratio of micro combustion based devices, they have higher heat and
mass transfer rates and better temperature control. These features of
the micro-combustion based devices are expected to find applications
to make portable, compact, and lightweight fuel processing units
[1–5]. High power density of the combustion based devices is also
expected to result in increased life and reduced weight of small scale
electronic and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The other
merits of these systems include lower pollutant emissions, especially
NOx due to lower operating temperatures of these systems as compared
to the conventional systems [1–4]. The concept of a micro heat engine
was proposed by Epstein and Senturia [5] in 1997. Since then, signifi-
cant amount of theoretical and experimental works has been reported
in the literature towards understanding flame propagation [5–21] at
small scales and development of small-scale combustion based devices
[22–33].
Experimental observations on flame stabilization in a straight quartz
tube with a wall temperature gradient have been reported by Maruta
et al. [9]. They have reported the formation of stable flame propagation
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 22 2576 7124.
E-mail address: sudar@aero.iitb.ac.in (S. Kumar).
modes at very low and high flow rates and unstable pulsating flame
propagation modes at moderate flow rates. Similar experimental
studies on flame dynamics in micro scale channels with different fuel–
air mixtures and wall heat transfer conditions were reported by
Ju and Choi [10], Xu and Ju [11], Kumar and co-workers [12–15], Fan
et al. [16,17,24], Kariuki and Balachandran [21] and Yang et al. [22].
Ronney [6], Veeraragavan and Cadou [7] and Schoegl and Ellzey [8]
report the theoretical analysis of the heat recirculation through channel
walls and their effect on flame propagation in small channels and flame
stability limits. 2-D analysis of energy and species transport by
Veeraragavan and Cadou [7] reports the effect of heat loss, wall thermal
conductivity and wall geometry on burning velocity and flame extinc-
tion. Authors have successfully shown that the heat recirculation from
post-flame zone to pre-flame zone is the primary mechanism of flame
stabilization in micro channels.
On the application side, Kim et al. [31] have experimentally studied
various configurations of Swiss-roll combustors with propane–air mix-
tures and different wall heat transfer conditions. They observed that
flames can be successfully stabilized for a wide range of mixture equiv-
alence ratios and flow rates by controlling the heat recirculation from
combustion products to preheat the incoming fresh mixture through
solid walls. Similar studies on flame stabilization behavior and combus-
tion performance in other small scale systems such as backward facing
step combustors [22,29,30] and radial micro combustors [14–17,24]
have been reported in the literature. Earlier work [9–18,24–28] mostly
concerns with the flame stabilization in these small scale devices
using heat recirculation through solid walls, altering the flow field,
using porous material in the combustor or a catalyst as an aiding

0378-3820/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2012.11.002
180 U.W. Taywade et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188
mechanism to enhance flame stability limits. X-shaped spinning flames
in a sudden expansion tube were reported by Kwon et al. [34] for
propane–air and methane–air mixtures. Kurata [35] observed the for-
mation of X-shaped flames in a coaxial burner consisting of two coaxial
streams of different premixed mixtures when operated near blowout
conditions. Xu and Ju [11] also observed similar spinning flames in
meso-scale divergent channels for both lean and rich methane and
propane–air mixtures.
The objective of present work is to investigate the combined effect of
change in the local flow field through backward facing steps and heat
recirculation through outer solid walls on the flame stability limits.
Heat recirculation is enhanced by placing an outer cup around the com-
bustor and allowing hot combustion products to pass over the combus-
tor walls. Due to this, the hot combustion products transfer some part of
heat to the combustor walls and subsequently help preheating the in-
coming fuel–air mixture. This increases the average combustor wall
temperature and results in an improved thermal performance of the
microcombustor. In this paper, the effect of heat recirculation from
hot combustion products is delineated and compared with a base case
without any heat recirculation. Parametric studies have been carried
out to understand the effect of heat recirculation on flame position in
the micro combustor, flame stability limits, flame propagation modes
and thermal performance of a typical microcombustor.
2. Experimental setup
2.1. Micro-combustor configurations
Fig. 1 shows the dimensional details of the microcombustor con-
figurations employed for numerical and experimental studies. These
microcombustors were designed based on the continuation of the
previous work [29,33] on two and three-step microcombustors. The
purpose of using backward facing steps is to provide a sudden expan-
sion to the incoming mixture which alters the velocity profile near
the wall and helps in enhancing the flame stability limits in such
microcombustors.
Fig. 1. Configuration and dimension details (a) model A without any heat recirculation cup (b) models B and C with heat recirculation cup.
Fig. 1(a) shows the dimensional details of a 3-step backward fac-
ing microcombustor (model A). The minimum diameter is 2 mm
near the inlet and it increases in the subsequent steps. Fig. 1(b)
shows a 3-step backward facing microcombustor (dimensions similar
to model A) covered with an external cup at the exit to enhance heat
recirculation from hot combustion products to the solid walls of the
combustor. To carry out detailed parametric studies, the material of
the outer cup and its dimensions has been changed. A brief summary
of the dimensions is shown in Fig. 1b. The experiments were carried
out with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)–air premixed mixtures. The
typical composition of LPG gas is ~ 60% butane and ~ 40% propane.
LPG was chosen due to its easy and cheap availability for various do-
mestic and industrial applications.
2.2. Details of experimental and computational methods
Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the experimental set-up for the
present work. This system consists of fuel and air feed systems, comput-
erized flow rate measurement and control system and a backward facing
three step microcombustor (cases A–C). The gas feed system provides a
premixed mixture of fuel (LPG) and dry air from a high pressure storage
tank. The fuel and air mass flow rates are controlled through a command
module using two precise electric mass flow controllers (AALBORG-GFC)
with 0.5 LPM and 1 LPM flow ranges respectively. Accuracy of the mea-
sured mass flow rates is within ±1% of the full scale. To measure the wall
temperature profiles of the microcombustor, three K-type thermocou-
ples (0.5 mm diameter) were arranged on the outer wall of the combus-
tor. These thermocouples were arranged at the junctions of three steps of
the combustor as shown in Fig. 3. In case of model B, a similar procedure
was adopted and the thermocouples were placed on the outer wall of the
cup. For certain cases, a thermocouple was inserted inside the cup to
measure the outer wall temperature of the combustor. Thermal contact
resistance between the thermocouple and combustor, heat loss due to
conduction, convection and radiation through thermocouple junction
were estimated. Thermal contact resistance was estimated from the rela-
tion given in ref. [36]. It was found that measured temperature error due
 U.W. Taywade et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188 181

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup.

to heat loss is less than 3% for temperatures below 1000 K. Hence, the
corrections to the measured temperature were not included in the
present paper.
The numerical modeling has been carried out to qualitatively under-
stand the role of heat recirculation on flame propagation and flame stabil-
ity limits in a backward-step combustor. Therefore, a simple 2-D model
has been chosen along with conjugate heat-transfer and single step reac-
tion to model the combustion process. Steady-state analysis has been car-
ried to obtain qualitative results on flame stability and wall temperature
profiles to help explain the present experimental results. Numerical sim-
ulations were carried out using a general purpose CFD code Fluent 6.3.26
[37] and the results obtained were analyzed along with the experimental
results for understanding the effect of heat recirculation on flame stabili-
zation behavior in these microcombustors. Two-dimensional Navier–
Stokes equations were solved in cylindrical coordinates along with
energy and species conservation equations. The flow Reynolds number
varies in the range of 150–800 for the given flow rate conditions. There-
fore, laminar flow calculations were carried out to obtain the distributions
of velocity, pressure, species and temperature in the computational do-
main. The solution was considered converged when scaled residuals of
mass, momentum, energy and species had dropped by five orders of mag-
nitude and there was no appreciable change in the respective residuals
further. It took approximately 48 h of CPU time on a desktop computer
to complete one simulation. Heat losses from solid walls were considered
and assumed to be 15.0 W/m2K and thermal radiation was neglected
[29]. Velocity inflow condition was employed at the inlet and pressure
outlet boundary condition at the exit of the combustor. Chemical reaction
was modeled with a simplified single-step reaction mechanism to under-
stand the formation of products such as CO2 and H2O from the combus-
tion zone [38]. Numerical simulations were carried out for the same
operating conditions as that of experiments. Initial computations were
started with 10,000 grid points and grid adaption was employed to appro-
priately resolve the reaction zone structure within the flame front and the
results obtained are grid independent because the minimum grid size
maintained within the reaction zone of the propagating flame front was
as small as 10–20 μm [38].
3. Result and discussion
3.1. Preliminary observations
During the preliminary investigations on flame stabilization, the char-
acteristics of the combustion exhibited by the premixed LPG–air mixture
were studied for its stable modes inside the micro-combustor. Varied
flow rates and mixture equivalence ratios were maintained. It was ob-
served that the flame inside the micro-combustor changes its shape

Fig. 3. Schematic of the thermocouple arrangement on the walls of the microcombustor.

182 U.W. Taywade et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188
and position with a change in the flow rate and mixture equivalence
ratio. Direct photographs of various combustion modes exhibited for a
range of mixture flow rates and mixture equivalence ratios are shown
in Fig. 4. For lean mixtures and lower flow rates, the flame shape remains
mostly C-shaped as shown in Fig. 4(a). The flame is stabilized mostly in
the first and second steps of the combustors (for all combustors). How-
ever, as the inlet velocity is increased, the effect of heat re-circulation on
flame shape can be seen clearly in the subsequent frames.
For model A, at high flow velocities, an X-shaped flame is observed
as shown in Fig. 4(c). A detailed study of these flames with a
high-speed camera has revealed that it is a thin reaction front rotating
at a very high frequency in the range of 80 to 150 Hz due to which it ap-
pears to be X-shaped to the naked eye [11]. This propagating flame front
is mostly anchored at the step of the channel. It was observed that a
sudden change in the velocity of the mixture or the equivalence ratio
changed the flame shape to conical shaped flame momentarily and
soon reverted back to original X-shaped flame. This mode appeared
for flow velocities higher than 1.5 m/s for very rich mixtures and at
lower velocities (b 1.5 m/s) for lean mixtures. A part of the unburnt
mixture burns at the exit plane due to lack of sufficient oxidizer in the
mixture as shown in Fig. 4(b).
For model B, with heat recirculation, the appearance of the various
flame propagation modes is shown in Fig. 4(d–f). At Ф = 0.8 and a
flow velocity of 1.3 m/s, a flat flame is observed as shown in Fig. 4(d)
due to heat recirculation than compared to a conical flame for same
condition without heat recirculation (not shown here). For Ф = 1.0, a
conical flame anchors at the third step and stabilizes as clear from
Fig. 4(e). This type of flame is generally very stable, remains anchored
to third step and seen for velocities ranging from 1.5 m/s to 9.0 m/s
for 0.8 b Ф b 1.1. However, for very lean and rich mixtures and higher ve-
locities, X-shaped flames were observed as shown in Fig. 4(f).
3.2. Flow field and related details
Fig. 5 shows the detailed distribution of temperature, reaction rate,
and flow streamlines obtained from numerical modeling of present
Fig. 4. Flame propagation modes in the combustor (a–d) for model A (without heat re-circulation) (e–h) for model B (with heat re-circulation).
combustor with different conditions of heat recirculation (cases A–C)
for stoichiometric methane–air mixtures at a mixture flow velocity of
1.0 m/s. Top part of Fig. 5 shows the temperature contours and bottom
part shows the reaction rate contours along with flow streamlines in the
microcombustors. It is clear from Fig. 5a that for case A, the flame is sta-
bilized at the start of the third step of the microcombustor. For cases B
and C, the flame is stabilized at the start and middle of the second
step respectively as shown in Fig. 5b and c. Flame stabilization point
moves upstream due to increased heat recirculation from hot combus-
tion products. The comparison of flame stabilization point shows that
the heat recirculation is maximum for case B followed by case C and
case A. The extent of preheating of incoming fuel–air can be determined
from the location of 600 K temperature contour shown in Fig. 5a–c. It is
clear from these figures that the 600 K contour reaches the start of the
first step for case B indicating maximum heat recirculation as compared
to cases C and A respectively. For case A, heat recirculation occurs only
through solid walls of the combustor. Therefore, 600 K temperature
contour is limited to a very small distance in the upstream direction.
Fig. 6 shows the temperature distribution of the combustor wall
obtained from numerical results for these different cases. It is clear
from this figure that with an increase in the heat recirculation from
the hot combustion products for case B and case C, the wall tempera-
tures are relatively higher than for a simple combustor case A. The
peak in the wall temperature profile also indicates the approximate
position of the flame stabilization point. Therefore, it is expected
that heat recirculation will significantly enhance the flame stability
limits resulting in increased flame stability limits for cases B and C
compared to case A.
3.3. Flame stability limits
It has been observed that a self-sustained flame can be achieved only
for a range of mixture velocities and equivalence ratios. Fig. 7 shows the
flame stability limits of a 3-step quartz micro-combustor with premixed
LPG-air mixtures for various microcombustors (models A–C). A stable
flame can be obtained for mixtures as lean as Ф = 0.5. The flame
 U.W. Taywade et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188 183

Fig. 5. Numerical predictions of the flame stabilization in the combustor for stoichiometric methane–air mixtures at different heat recirculation conditions: (a) case A (b) case B and
(c) case C. Temperature contours shown in top part and reaction rate contours along with flow streamlines (dashed lines) on the bottom part of the figure.

stability limits of a three step combustor are relatively much wider as
compared to a two-step combustor [29]. This is perhaps due to the rea-
son that increase in the number of steps helps in gradual flow deceler-
ation and enhances the flame stability limits. A stable flame is obtained
for a minimum thermal input of approximately 3.5 W in a three-step
combustor without any heat recirculation (case A). This limit of mini-
mum thermal input is much smaller than a two-step combustor
(~5 W) [29]. At lower limits, a stable flame can be obtained for a mix-
ture flow rate of 95 SCCM in a three-step combustor as compared to
150 SSCM in a two-step combustor. Due to these advantages, a
three-step combustor has been considered for detailed investigations
in the present work. The flame stability limits for the case of heat
recirculation (cases B and C) are much wider than for the case of no
heat recirculation. For instance, a stable flame can be obtained for mix-
ture velocities as small as 0.4 m/s and these flames are stabilized in the
first step of the combustor. This corresponds to a minimum thermal
input of ~2.2 W which is relatively much smaller as compared to the
minimum thermal input achieved for two step combustors, ~5 W
184 U.W. Taywade et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188

1200 the flame remains stabilized either in the third step or near the exit of
Case A combustor and the effect of heat recirculation is enhanced due to higher
Case B overall heat release. This helps in preventing the flame blow off even for
Wall temperature (K)

Case C very high flow rate conditions. The qualitative comparison of numerical
900 and experimental results can be observed here. Since the heat
recirculation and solid wall temperature (Fig. 6) are maximum for
case B than cases C and A, no upper flame stability limits were observed
to exist for case B combustor. For case C, flame blow off was observed to
occur at Ф = 0.5 and 0.6 and for case A, upper flame stability limits are
600
observed to exist for the complete range of mixture equivalence ratios.
Fig. 8(a) shows the regimes of existence for X-shaped spinning
flame mode (shown in Fig. 4c) for model A (without heat
re-circulation). A spinning flame exists for a range of mixture velocities
300 and equivalence ratios. The spinning flame limits are narrow for leaner
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06
mixtures and becomes wider for rich mixtures as compared to models B
Wall length (m) and C (shown in Fig. 8b), where two separate wider spinning flame
Fig. 6. Numerical predictions of the wall temperature profile for different combustor
limits are observed to exist for lean and rich mixtures. Fig. 8(b) shows
cases. the limits of formation of the spinning flame for models B and C. It is in-
teresting to note that the spinning flame modes exist for a wide range of

[29]. The lower flame stability limits remain almost constant for Ф b 1.25
and then increase almost linearly up to Ф = 1.5 for both models B and C.
For model A, the upper flame stability limits were observed to increase
with mixture equivalence ratio. For flow velocities higher than the
upper flame stability limits, the flame blow off occurs. For case B, exper-
iments were carried out for flow velocities up to 9 m/s and no flame
blow off was observed for all the mixture equivalence ratio conditions.
Similarly for model C, the lower limits are almost similar to that of
model B. Upper stability limits were observed to exist for case C at
Ф = 0.5 and 0.6 as compared to other equivalence ratios. For higher
mixture equivalence ratios, no flame blow off was observed till 9 m/s
flow velocity. Overall, it is interesting to note the effect of heat
recirculation at lower flame stability limits as it is clear from these
three cases that the minimum thermal input can be significantly re-
duced to as small as 2.2 W as compared to ~3.5 W for case A without
any heat recirculation. This indicates that heat recirculation from hot
combustion products helps in increasing both upper and lower flame
stability limits significantly for these microcombustors. This is due to
the fact that for very small flow rates, the flame is mostly stabilized in
the first step and flame quenching is governed by heat loss. Any small
contribution through heat recirculation from hot combustion products
helps in improving the lower flame stability limits. At higher velocities,

Fig. 8. (a) Spinning flame limits without heat recirculation, model A. (b) Spinning
Fig. 7. Flammability limits of the combustors with and without heat re-circulation. flame limits with quartz heat recirculation cup, models B and C.
 U.W. Taywade et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188 185

equivalence ratios and mixture velocities. For equivalence ratio range of
0.8 ≤ Ф ≤ 1.0 (model B) and 0.9 ≤Ф ≤ 1.1 (model C) and at a flow veloc-
ity of ~1.0 m/s, X-shaped flame suddenly appears in the second step.
For this mixture equivalence ratio range, X-shaped spinning flame is
formed only for very small range of mixture velocities. An increase in
the mixture velocity results in the flame stabilization in the third step
as a conical flame. For other equivalence ratios, the spinning flame is
stabilized at the third step. These present experiments on various com-
bustors (cases A–C) have clearly helped in delineating the role of heat
recirculation/loss on the formation of these X-shaped flames. Heat
recirculation (cases B and C) significantly reduces the formation of
these flames as clear from Fig. 8a and b. Fig. 9(a) shows the direct
images of the spinning flames captured with a high speed camera
(Phantom, ver. 12.1) at a speed of 2000 fps. The figure clearly shows
that the X-shaped flame is a thin reaction zone of the flame which
spins at a very high frequency and hence appears like X-shaped to the
naked eyes. It also shows that the spinning flame front is anchored at
the backward step of the channel. Fig. 9(b) shows the variation in the
frequency of spinning flames at different equivalence ratios for a mix-
ture velocity of V= 2 m/s for LPG–air mixture. It is observed that fre-
quency increases with an increase in equivalence ratio till Ф = 1.0 and
then decreases for rich mixtures.
Further investigations were carried out to understand the effect of
Lewis number on the formation of X-shaped spinning flame, particular
for the case of heat recirculation. The effective Lewis number was esti-
mated at 300 K and 500 K conditions for a range of mixture equivalence
ratios of propane–air mixture to see the effect of indirect heat
recirculation from flame to wall and then from wall to fresh fuel–air
mixture. It is observed that effective Lewis number decreases with in-
crease in temperature and this is expected to result in the reduced

Fig. 9. (a) Time sequence of spinning flame for LPG–air mixture at Ф=0.9 and V=2.0 m/s (time shown in each frame is in ms) (b) frequencies of spinning flames for various equivalence
ratios at V=2.0 m/s for LPG–air mixture.
186 U.W. Taywade et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188
thermal flame wall coupling. These X-shaped spinning flames appear
due to flame bifurcations for a wide range of mixture Lewis numbers
[6]. The appearance of these spinning flames can be attributed to strong
thermal-wall coupling [6,9]. The transition between a spinning and
steady flame mode can be further controlled through external cooling
(case A) or heating of the microcombustor walls (case B and case C),
thus confirming the fact that flame-wall coupling leads to the appear-
ance of these spinning flames.
3.4. Variation of flame position with mixture flow velocity
Fig. 10(a) shows the variation of the flame tip position with mix-
ture flow velocity for two cases of lean mixture conditions, Ф = 0.6
and 0.8. This comparison has been carried out to further delineate
the effect of heat recirculation and mixture equivalence ratio on
flame position in the combustors. It can be seen from Fig. 10(a) that
a stable flame is obtained for heat recirculation case even at Ф = 0.6.
The flame is stabilized in the first, second and third step of the
Fig. 10. (a) Variation of flame position with mixture velocity for models A and B with
quartz cup (b) variation of flame length with mixture velocity for models A and B with
quartz cup.
combustor for a range of mixture flow velocities. The flame position
shifts towards upstream with heat recirculation. This is clear from
the curves corresponding to the case of heat recirculation and with-
out heat recirculation at Ф = 0.8. An increase in the mixture equiva-
lence ratio also results in the flame stabilization at an upstream
location as clear from the curves corresponding to Ф = 0.6 and 0.8.
For the case of no heat recirculation at Ф = 0.8, the flame initially sta-
bilizes in the downstream region of first step and moves further
downstream with an increase in the flow velocity. The stabilized
flame blows-off for flow velocities higher than ~ 3 m/s. There is very
little change in the flame position due to a change in flow velocity
(1.0 m/s to 1.2 m/s). This indicates that the flame stability is signifi-
cantly enhanced by the backward step of the combustor [22,29]. For
a case with heat recirculation, the flame stability limits are much
wider and flame is stabilized even at the exit of the combustor for
higher flow velocities and flame does not blow off even for velocities
as high as 9 m/s. It can be further observed from Fig. 10(a) that at
each step, there is a change in the gradient of the curve representing
the flame position. This indicates that the flame stability is enhanced
when the flame is anchored at the backward facing step and the
change in flame position is very small with an increase in mixture ve-
locity. Fig. 10(b) shows the variation of the flame length with mixture
velocity for different operating conditions. It is clear from Fig. 10(b)
that for heat recirculation case, length of the flame decreases with
an increase in equivalence ratio. This is due to the fact that mixture
burning velocity increases with Ф. For Ф = 0.8 and heat recirculation
case, a conical flame is anchored at the third step for all the mixture
velocity conditions and the length of this flame increases almost line-
arly with an increase in the mixture velocity(represented by curve C).
For Ф = 0.6, the conical flame is anchored at exit plane for flow veloc-
ities greater than 2.7 m/s (curve C1). For no heat recirculation case,
X-shaped flame is observed at Ф = 0.8 for a velocity range of 1.5 to
2.3 m/s (curve X). At Ф = 0.6, for heat recirculation case, X-shaped
flame is observed to exist for a velocity range of 1.5 to 2.6 m/s (curves
X and X1).
Fig. 11 shows the variation of the flame position with mixture equiv-
alence ratio for a range of flow velocities. A dip is observed for stoichio-
metric mixtures and slightly rich mixtures. This is due to the fact that
the maximum mixture burning velocity is achieved for stoichiometric
and slightly rich mixtures. Therefore, flame moves upstream with an in-
crease in mixture equivalence ratio till Ф = 1.1 and then starts moving
downstream again. This is quite consistent for a large range of mixture
velocities as shown in Fig. 11.
Fig. 11. Flame propagation varying with mixture equivalence ratio for different flow
velocities with quartz heat re-circulation cup for model B.
 U.W. Taywade et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188
Fig. 12. Wall temperature profiles along the length of combustor without heat
re-circulation.
3.5. Wall temperature profiles
To study the effect of flow velocity, mixture equivalence ratio and
heat recirculation on the wall temperature of the micro-combustor,
experiments were carried out for a range of mixture velocities and
equivalence ratios. The results are presented below.
3.5.1. Effect of inlet velocity on outer wall temperature
The variation of the average outer wall temperature near the flame
location for different flow velocities is shown in Fig. 12. The details of
the position of the thermocouples are discussed in Fig. 3. The values of
the temperatures plotted in this figure are the average temperature
values recorded by these three thermocouples. The experimentally
measured wall temperature for case A varies in the range of 400–
600 K. It is interesting to note that a stable C-shaped flame is formed
for lower velocities and the average wall temperature increases with
flow velocity. For velocities in the range of 1.6 to 4.0 m/s, X-shaped
flame appears and the variation of the wall temperature is relatively
small. A more uniform temperature profile can be obtained during the
operation of the combustor in X-shaped flame propagation mode be-
cause of its spinning nature. For higher velocities (>4 m/s) conical
flame is formed at the exit plane of combustor resulting in a decrease
in the wall temperature.
Fig. 13. Variation of outside wall temperature of the quartz cup for model B.
187
Fig. 14. Temperature variation with inlet velocity for quartz and aluminum cup for
model B.
3.5.2. Effect of mixture equivalence ratio on outer wall temperature
Fig. 13 shows the variation of the average wall temperature for a
range of mixture equivalence ratios and flow velocities. The details
of the position of the thermocouples are shown in Fig. 3. It can be ob-
served that maximum wall temperature is obtained for stoichiometric
or slightly rich mixtures. An increase in the flow velocity increases the
wall combustor wall temperature. The average wall temperature of
the combustor can be varied from 400 to 700 K depending on the
mixture flow velocity and equivalence ratio.
A comparison of wall temperatures for an aluminum cup and a quartz
cup with model B configuration is shown in Fig. 14. The outer wall
temperature is measured at the middle of the third step of the combus-
tor. The outer wall temperature increases with an increase in the flow ve-
locity. The wall temperature for a quartz cup is ~200 K higher than for
aluminum cup when mixture velocities are higher than 2.5 m/s. The dif-
ference can be attributed to higher thermal conductivity of aluminum
material than quartz material. Due to higher thermal conductivity, heat
losses from aluminum cup are much higher resulting in lower wall tem-
peratures. It is further to be noted that for higher flow velocities, the
measured temperatures at the combustor walls were as high as 1200 K
for stoichiometric fuel–air mixtures. This behavior can be attributed to
the excess heat of the exhaust gases recirculated through the solid
walls resulting in excess enthalpy combustion and higher wall
temperatures.
4. Conclusions
Numerical and experimental studies on flame stabilization charac-
teristics have been carried out with premixed LPG–air mixtures for
two different cases; with and without heat recirculation in a three
step backward facing cylindrical combustor. The effects of heat
recirculation, wall thermal conductivity, flow velocity and mixture
equivalence ratio on flame stability limits, wall temperature profiles
and flame propagation modes have been studied. Numerical studies
helped in understanding the flame stabilization behavior in different
combustors and effect of heat recirculation on flame stability limits
and wall temperature profiles. Heat recirculation helps in enhancing
the flame stability limits significantly. No upper flame stability limits
were observed for models B and C as compared to model A. The lower
flame stability limits of models B and C are significantly enhanced
resulting in a minimum thermal input as small as 2.2 W. Regimes of
spinning modes are observed to exist for models B and C which are sig-
nificantly different from model A due to increased heat recirculation
188 U.W. Taywade et al. / Fuel Processing Technology 109 (2013) 179–188
from hot combustion products. The formation of these spinning and
stable combustion modes depends on the extent of heat recirculation,
flow rate and mixture equivalence ratios. The average combustor wall
temperature with quartz cup is ~100–200 K higher than aluminum
cup depending on mixture velocities. Outer wall temperature in the
range of 500–900 K can be obtained depending on application require-
ments. These characteristics of wide flame stability limits, uniform wall
temperature profile for a range of flow and equivalence ratio conditions
make these combustors a good choice for various heating and power
producing applications from combustion based devices at small scales.
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