Journal: Energy, vol. 335, pp. 137865, 2025.
Title: Exergy efficiency enhancement in platinum-stainless steel microscale combustors via tree Gaussian process modeling
Authors: Ray-Bing Chen, Huang-Ju Lin, Yan-Ru Wang, Yueh-Heng Li*
Rank: 3.8% (3/79), SCI, THERMODYNAMICS, 2024.
Impact Factor: 9.4
Abstract: This study investigates the optimization of a micro-combustion system by using a treed Gaussian process (TGP) to explore a multidimensional parameter space and thereby enhance performance. A platinum-coated stainless steel micro-reactor is analyzed, with the aim of optimizing entropy generation and second-law efficiency. The TGP model reduces prediction uncertainty by 70 %, facilitating efficient parameter exploration. The hydrogen equivalence ratio is found to contribute 65 % of the variance in the second law efficiency, and the methane velocity is also discovered to be crucial, with a first-order sensitivity index of 0.60 for thermal-conduction-related entropy generation. The optimized conditions lead to a second law efficiency of higher than 80 % under hydrogen and methane flow velocities of 0.5–0.9 m/s and equivalence ratios of 0.4–0.6. Hydrogen's role in promoting high-stability combustion is crucial, and the catalyst improves fuel oxidation and extends combustion limits. These findings provide a robust framework for designing high-efficiency micro-combustion systems and offer guidelines for minimizing irreversibility and maximizing the energy conversion efficiency.
