A portable modified Swiss-roll burner with flame stabilization zones for long-time thermoelectric power generation

This paper presents a portable modified Swiss-roll burner (SRB) using a new flame-holder design near its central combustion region with openings to both spiral counterflow reactant gas and exhaust gas channels. Thus, the flashback problem, frequently occurred in SRB when it was continuously operated at a fixed equivalence ratio due to heat recirculation, can be greatly improved, achieving a long-time stable burning as confirmed by temperature measurements at various positions in the modified SRB. [NO_x] and [CO] emissions are also measured at the exit of the product channel. Furthermore, a 3-D numerical model using CFD-RC together with a four-step propane-air reaction mechanism is established to simulate chemically reacting flows in the modified SRB with the consideration of heat losses, revealing reasonably good agreement with experimental data. Finally, the present portable TE power generator using the modified SRB as a heat source and an aluminum-fin heat sink can stably provide a power density of 240 mW/cm² with very low [NO_x] < 5 ppm for many hours.