Three-Dimensional Numerical Method for Supercritical Heat Transfer of Hydrocarbon Fuels

Abstract

In order to study the regenerative cooling mechanism, a three-dimensional numerical method for supercritical heat transfer of hydrocarbon fuels was established based on the Navier-Stokes equations and a thermophysical properties evaluation code. The supercritical heat transfer behavior of n-decane inside an electrically heated tube and n-dodecane inside a fuel-cooled panel has been computed. Detailed distributions of outer wall temperature and fuel temperature were obtained. The corresponding measurements are adopted to validate the numerical method. The relative deviations of the computational outer wall temperature from the test results are within 6.8%, and those of the fuel temperature are within 1%. Those indicate that the numerical method is reliable, and can be used as an effective tool to investigate the supercritical heat transfer of hydrocarbon fuels.