Flame stabilization in a planar micro-combustor with a bluff body

Flame stabilization is of great importance for combustion-based micro power generation devices. In the present work, we developed a planar micro-combustor fitted with a bluff body at the entrance of the combustor chamber. A comparative study on stoichiometric hydrogen/air flames in the planar micro combustor with and without a bluff body was performed numerically. Computation results demonstrate that blow off limit is significantly extended by the addition of the bluff body. Besides, flame near the blowoff limit is still symmetrical in the case with a bluff body, while it becomes inclined in the case without a bluff body. Dimension effect of the bluff body was also investigated which showed that the blowoff limit decreases sharply as the blockage ratio becomes less than 0.3. This provides a useful guidance for the design of the micro-combustor with a bluff body.