Implementing ITO/sapphire filter/emitter on micro catalytic combustor for TPV power system

The objective of this study is to study the combustion characteristic of micro catalytic combustor. The micro catalytic combustion channel consists of segmented catalysts and cavities, and the system fuels with variation of hydrogen and methane mixtures. Hydrogen is prone to ignite on catalyst surface, ensuing on methane catalytic combustion. The presence of cavities on the channel provides the low velocity regime for anchoring flames in small chamber. It is noted that catalytically induced flame can be anchored inside the micro channel, and flame luminosities in the micro reactor are apparently bright in equivalence ratio of 1.0 and 0.8. The ideal spectral distribution of a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) emitter requires a high emission with a moderate bandwidth at an energy that is slightly above the semiconductor diode bandgap. The properly tailored spectral emission enhances the overall efficiency of a typical TPV system. While in recent years there have been many remarkable efforts in far-field TPV using various photonic nanostructures, here we propose a simple planar emitter structure using indium tin oxide (ITO) on sapphire, which can achieve the desired emission characteristic as an ideal TPV emitter. In addition, we demonstrate a quartz micro-combustor that can be used in conjunction with ITO/Sapphire selective emitter.