Development of micro power generators - A review

The demand for energy sources that are compact, lightweight and powerful has significantly increased in recent years. Traditional chemical batteries which are highly developed are unable to meet the demand for high energy intensity. This gap is expected to widen in the future as electronic devices need more power to support enhanced functionalities. Hydrocarbon fuels have energy densities much greater than the best batteries. Therefore, taking advantage of the high energy density of chemical fuels to generate power becomes an attractive technological alternative to batteries. To address the growing demand for smaller scale and higher energy density power sources, various combustion-based micro power generators are being developed around the world. This review paper provides an update on recent progresses and developments in micro-scale combustion and micro power generators. The paper, broadly divided into four main sections, begins with a review of various methods to enhance and stabilize the combustion at micro-scale, subsequently improving the efficiency. This is followed by a description of various micro-thermophotovoltaic power generators. The third section focuses on MEMS based solid propellant micro-propulsion system. Lastly, a brief review is made to other micro power generators. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.