Numerical investigation of a silicon six-wafer microcombustor under the effect of heat loss through the outer walls

In this paper, the influences of low heat transfer condition at the outer walls on the microcombustor are investigated due to the fact that a sufficiently small heat transfer coefficient at the outer wall incurs the upstream burning in the recirculation jacket, results in the high wall temperature, and hence possibly damages the microcombustor. Numerical simulation approaches focused on the microcombustor with the flame burning in the recirculation jacket. Combustion characteristics of the combustor were first analyzed based on 2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and then the most dangerous locations on the combustor were predicted by means of the 3D finite element analysis method. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of CFD and stress modeling for the design and improvement of the microcombustors.