Experimental studies on a high performance thermoelectric system based on micro opposed flow porous combustor

This study proposes an opposed flow porous micro combustor structure that provides stable combustion in a 2 mm combustion chamber under high inlet power of propane/air. The results showed that the combustor fully meet the temperature requirements of thermoelectric module, which it can provides over 600 K to thermoelectric devices; And the unique structure of opposed flow intake can improve the flame stability under wider flammable range and enhance the system power density, but the thermal efficiency of combustor is limited due to the heat leakage from intake cavities. The thermal efficiency of this combustor rises dramatically when the inlet power reaches more than 20 W, at the same time, the efficiency of the heat loss on the combustor surface drops sharply. The customized thermoelectric module and heat sink are adopted into this study. Meanwhile, the experimental study is arranged to verify the power density and overall conversion efficiency of combustion-based micro thermoelectric system. In conclusion, the thermoelectric system in this study achieves the power density of 0.18 W/cm³ while maintaining the overall conversion efficiency of 4.27%.