Laila Fitriana, Aris Purwanto, Fudhail A Munir, Wei-Cheng Wang, Herman Saputro
The growing demand for portable electronic devices has highlighted the need for compact, efficient, and long-lasting power sources. Conventional batteries suffer from low energy densities, limiting device operation time. This study addresses this limitation by investigating cylindrical stepped micro-combustors for thermoelectric generator applications through combined numerical and experimental methods. Three combustor types (A, B, and C) with varying flame chamber geometries were analyzed, along with two construction materials: stainless steel and quartz glass. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were used to evaluate flame stability, combustion efficiency, and temperature distribution, while experiments validated the models and measured electrical power output. Combustor Type B showed the best flame stability, and Type C achieved the highest wall temperature, the backward-facing step and wire mesh were very useful in maintaining the flame stability. While the experiment shows Stainless steel outperformed quartz glass, yielding a maximum power output of 0.7422 W compared to 0.5418 W. However, the cylindrical geometry proved less effective than vortex combustors due to limited heat transfer surface area. This work contributes to the field by providing quantitative insights into the effects of combustor geometry and materials on Thermoelectric performance, guiding the design of next generation micropower systems. © 2025
Department of Mathematic Education, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A, Surakarta, Indonesia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia; Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia; Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City 701, Taiwan; Department of Mechanical Engineering Education, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ahmad Yani No.200, Pabelan, Surakarta, Indonesia
