An introductory overview of the micro and small-scale devices for the combustion in micro-gas turbines is presented at the beginning of this paper in order to identify and select the main topics to be discussed in the following. The wide variety of combustion systems for this particular application, together with the different strategies and design concepts that are proposes for setting up effi...

The combustion characteristics of methane/moist air in micro-tube reactors with different numbers and shapes of inner wall protuberances are investigated in this paper. The micro-reactor with one rectangular protuberance (six different sizes) was studied firstly, and it is shown that reactions near the protuberance are mainly controlled by diffusion, which has little effect on the outlet temper...

The push toward the miniaturization of electro-mechanical devices and the resulting need for micro-power generation (milli-watts to watts) with low-weight, long-life devices has led to the recent development of the field of micro-scale combustion. The concept behind this new field is that since batteries have low specific energy, and liquid hydrocarbon fuels have a very high specific energy, a ...

The introduction of micro-spacecraft in the space industry has led to the development of various micro-propulsion techniques. Microthrusters are micropropulsion devices used in microspacecraft for precise station keeping, orbit adjustment, attitude control, drag compensation and apogee kicking. The principle of operation of a solid propellant thruster is based on the combustion of a solid energ...

Gas turbines are being utilized in a variety of applications (electric power production, jet engines, etc.) Modern power turbines have the highest operating efficiencies and turn out the fewest pollutants among major combustion energy converting devices. The power generation industry is faced with increasingly stringent emissions requirements for ozone precursors, such as nitrogen oxides and ca...

Ethnomethodology is an established method of research in technology related fields. In work settings, ethnomethodology has helped researchers to deepen their understanding of how collaborative activities unfold in a social context. While much collaboration is now carried out online, through distributed teams for example, ethnomethodology, as a method of analysis, has not received considerable i...

The goal of this paper is to contribute to the design of high-performance mesocombustors, a field currently under rapid development, in particular for propulsion, e.g., for UAVs, and micro/meso-electrical power generators. This study is focused on a cylindrical combustor of 29 cm, fuelled by methane and air, which provides 2 kW of thermal power. The device was entirely designed and built at the...

This paper reports on our research in developing a micro power generation system based on gas turbine engine and piezoelectric converter. The micro gas turbine engine consists of a micro combustor, a turbine and a centrifugal compressor. Comprehensive simulation has been implemented to optimal the component design. We have successfully demonstrated a silicon-based micro combustor, which consist...