Numerical simulation of flow and heat transfer of n-decane in sub-millimeter spiral tube at supercritical pressure

The flow and heat transfer characteristics of n-decane in the sub-millimeter spiral tube(SMST) at supercritical pressure(p = 3 MPa) are studied by the RNG k-ε numerical model in this paper. The effects of various Reynolds numbers(Re) and structural parameters pitch(s) and spiral diameter(D) are analyzed.Results indicate that the average Nusselt numberNu and friction factorNu increase with an increase in Re, and decrease with an increase in D/d(tube diameter). In terms of the structural parameter s/d, it is found that as s/d increases, the Nu first increase, and then decrease. and the critical structural parameter is s/d = 4. Compared with the straight tube, the SMST can improve Nu by 34.8% at best, while it can improve Nu by 102.1% at most. In addition, a comprehensive heat transfer coefficient is applied to analyze the thermodynamic properties of SMST. With the optimal structural parameters of D/d = 6 and s/d = 4, the comprehensive heat transfer factor of supercritical pressure hydrocarbon fuel in the SMST can reach 1.074. At last, correlations of the average Nusselt number and friction factor are developed to predict the flow and heat transfer of n-decane at supercritical pressure.

Experimental study on heat transfer of aviation kerosene in a vertical upward tube at supercritical pressures

A research on the heat transfer performance of kerosene flowing in a vertical upward tube at supercritical pressure is presented.In the experiments,insights are offered on the effects of the factors such as mass flux,heat flux,and pressure.It is found that increasing mass flux reduces the wall temperature and separates the experimental section into three different parts,while increasing working pressure deteriorates heat transfer.The extended corresponding-state principle can be used for evaluating density and transport properties of kerosene,including its viscosity and thermal conductivity,at different temperatures and pressures under supercritical conditions.For getting the heat capacity,a Soave–Redlich–Kwong(SRK)equation of state is used.The correlation for predicting heat transfer of kerosene at supercritical pressure is established and shows good agreement with the experimental data.

Research on Critical Flow of Water under Supercritical Pressures in Nozzles

An experiment on critical flow of water was conducted in two nozzles of 1.41 mm in diameter and 4.35 mm in length with rounded-edge and sharp-edge respectively, covering the ranges of inlet pressure of 22.1-29.1 MPa and inlet temperature of 38-474 ℃. More than 200 data points were obtained and the characteristics and parametric trends were investigated. In the region of near and beyond pseudo-critical temperature the thermal-equilibrium is dominant, and the flow rate can be estimated by the modified homogeneous equilibrium model. In the below pseudo-critical region the results exhibit scattered feature as a result of hysteresis effect in the onset of vaporization, characterizing a bifurcation behavior. This effect is more significant in the nozzle with sharp-edge, especially at higher pressure. For temperature well below the pseudo-critical point, the flow is not at critical condition and the flow rate can be represented by the Bernoulli equation reasonably.

Local resistance characteristics of elbows for supercritical pressure RP-3 flowing in serpentine micro-tubes

Based on the demands of compact heat exchangers and micro cooling channels applied for aviation thermal protection on aero-engines,the elbow localflow resistance charac-teristics for supercritical pressure aviation fuel RP-3flowing in adiabatic horizontal serpentine tubes with the inner diameter of 1.8 mm and the massflux of 1179 kg/(m^(2)·s)were experimen-tally studied.The long-short-tube method was used to obtain the elbow pressure drop from the total serpentine tube pressure drop,and the effects of system pressures(P/Pc=1.72-2.58)and geometry parameters including bend numbers(n=5-11),bend diameters(D/d=16.7-27.8),and bend distances(L/d=20-60)on elbow pressure drops and local resistance co-efficients are analyzed on the basis of the thermal physical property variation.The results show that both the increase in the elbow pressure drop and the decrease in the local resistance coef-ficient with temperatures speed up at the near pseudo-critical temperature region of T>0.85Tpc.And the growth of the elbow local pressure drop could be inhibited by the increase of system pressures,while the local resistance coefficient is slightly affected by pressures.The influence of bend diameters on the local resistance coefficient is mild when D/d is larger than 22.2 in the premise of fully developedflow in straight tubes.Furthermore,a piecewise empir-ical correlation considering the bend diameter and physical property ratio is developed to pre-dict the elbow pressure drop of the serpentine tube and optimize the layout of the cooling tube system on aero-engines.

Numerical Investigation of Jet Impingement Cooling with Supercritical Pressure Carbon Dioxide in a Multi-Layer Cold Plate during High Heat Flux

Jet impingement cooling with supercritical pressure carbon dioxide in a multi-layer cold plate during the heat flux of 400 W/cm_(2) is investigated numerically.The generation and distribution of pseudocritical fluid with the high specific heat of supercritical pressure carbon dioxide and the mechanism of the heat transfer enhancement led by the high specific heat are analyzed.For a given nozzle diameter,the effects of the geometric parameters of a multi-layer cold plate such as the relative nozzle-to-plate distance,relative plate thickness,and relative upper fluid thickness on the average heat transfer coefficient are studied.The results show that the target surface is cooled effectively with supercritical pressure carbon dioxide jet impingement cooling.When the radial distance is less than 6 mm,the maximum wall temperature is 368 K,which is 30 K lower than the maximum junction temperature for a silicon-based insulated gate bipolar transistor,a typical electronic power device.There is a pseudocritical fluid layer near the target surface,where specific heat reaches above 34 kJ/(kg·K)locally.The drastic rise of the specific heat leads to obvious heat transfer enhancement.Within a certain range,the local heat transfer coefficient and the specific heat are linearly correlated and Stanton number remains constant over this range.The heat transfer coefficient is at a maximum when the relative nozzle-to-plate distance is 1.As the relative plate thickness increases from 0.5 to 3.5 or the relative upper fluid thickness increases from 0.5 to 2.5,the average heat transfer coefficient decreases monotonically.

Effect of turbulence models on predicting convective heat transfer to hydrocarbon fuel at supercritical pressure

A variety of turbulence models were used to perform numerical simulations of heat transfer for hydrocarbon fuel flowing upward and downward through uniformly heated vertical pipes at supercritical pressure. Inlet temperatures varied from 373 K to 663 K, with heat flux rang- ing from 300 kW/m2 to 550 kW/m2. Comparative analyses between predicted and experimental results were used to evaluate the ability of turbulence models to respond to variable thermophysical properties of hydrocarbon fuel at supercritical pressure. It was found that the prediction performance of turbulence models is mainly determined by the damping function, which enables them to respond differently to local flow conditions. Although prediction accuracy for experimental results varied from condition to condition, the shear stress transport （SST） and launder and sharma models performed better than all other models used in the study. For very small buoyancy-influenced runs, the thermal-induced acceleration due to variations in density lead to the impairment of heat transfer occurring in the vicinity of pseudo-critical points, and heat transfer was enhanced at higher temperatures through the combined action of four thermophysical properties： density, viscosity, thermal conductivity and specific heat. For very large buoyancy- influenced runs, the thermal-induced acceleration effect was over predicted by the LS and AB models.

Three-dimensional numerical study of supercritical pressure effect on heat transfer of cryogenic methane

A three-dimensional numerical study of the turbulent convective heat transfer of the cryogenic methane flowing inside a square engine cooling channel under supercritical pressures was systematically conducted.Numerical results indicate that increasing the fluid pressure results in enhanced heat transfer of the cryogenic methane under supercritical pressures.At the pseudo-critical temperature under a corresponding supercritical pressure,drastic property variations cause heat transfer deterioration and sharp wall temperature increase at a high wall heat flux of 7MW/m2.A modified Jackson and Hall heat transfer equation,which can be used for supercritical heat transfer calculations of the cryogenic methane,has been successfully established in this paper.

Numerical investigation of pyrolysis effects on heat transfer characteristics and flow resistance of n-decane under supercritical pressure

Pyrolysis of hydrocarbon fuel plays an important role in the regenerative cooling process. In this article, a Two-Dimensional（2D） numerical model is proposed to investigate the pyrolysis effects on the heat transfer characteristics and flow resistance of n-decane under supercritical pressure. The one-step global pyrolytic reaction mechanism consisting of 19 species is adopted to simulate the pyrolysis process of n-decane. The thermophysical and transport properties of the fluid mixture are computed and incorporated into the numerical model for simulation. Comparisons between the current predictions and the open published experimental data are carried out and good agreement is achieved. In order to better understand the complicated physicochemical process, further investigations on the turbulent flow and heat transfer coupled with pyrolysis in a tube have been performed under various operating conditions. The results indicate that the pyrolysis intensively takes place in the high fluid temperature region. The occurrence of the heat transfer deterioration would lead to increasing n-decane conversion at the beginning of the heated section. It is found that the pyrolysis could improve the heat transfer deterioration and promote the heat transfer enhancement. Meanwhile, pyrolysis gives rise to an abrupt increase of flow resistance. The mechanisms of the physicochemical phenomena are also analyzed in a systematic manner, which would be very helpful in the development of the regenerative cooling technology.

Turbulent Convective Heat Transfer of Methane at Supercritical Pressure in a Helical Coiled Tube

The heat transfer of methane at supercritical pressure in a helically coiled tube was numerically investigated using the Reynolds Stress Model under constant wall temperature. The effects of mass flux （G）, inlet pressure （Pin） and buoyancy force on the heat transfer behaviors were discussed in detail. Results show that the light fluid with higher temperature appears near the inner wall of the helically coiled tube. When the bulk temperature is less than or approach to the pscudocritical temperature （Tpc）, the combined effects of buoyancy force and centrifugal force make heavy fluid with lower temperature appear near the outer-right of the helically coiled tube. Beyond the Tpc, the heavy fluid with lower temperature moves from the outer-right region to the outer region owing to the centrifugal force. The buoyancy force caused by density variation, which can be characterized by Gr/Re3 and Gr/Re2.7, enhances the heat transfer coefficient （h） when the bulk temperature is less than or near the T~, and the h expe- riences oscillation due to the buoyancy force. The oscillation is reduced progressively with the increase of G. Moreover, h reaches its peak value near the Tpv. Higher G could improve the heat transfer performance in the whole temperature range. The peak value ofh depends on Pin. A new correlation was proposed for methane at su- percritical pressure convective heat transfer in the helical tube, which shows a good agreement with the present simulated results.

Model validation and parametric study of fluid flows and heat transfer of aviation kerosene with endothermic pyrolysis at supercritical pressure

The regenerative cooling technology is a promising approach for effective thermal protection of propulsion and power-generation systems.A mathematical model has been used to examine fluid flows and heat transfer of the aviation kerosene RP-3 with endothermic fuel pyrolysis at a supercritical pressure of 5 MPa.A pyrolytic reaction mechanism,which consists of 18 species and 24 elementary reactions,is incorporated to account for fuel pyrolysis.Detailed model validations are conducted against a series of experimental data,including fluid temperature,fuel conversion rate,various product yields,and chemical heat sink,fully verifying the accuracy and reliability of the model.Effects of fuel pyrolysis and inlet flow velocity on flow dynamics and heat transfer characteristics of RP-3 are investigated.Results reveal that the endothermic fuel pyrolysis significantly improves the heat transfer process in the high fluid temperature region.During the supercritical-pressure heat transfer process,the flow velocity significantly increases,caused by the drastic variations of thermophysical properties.Under all the tested conditions,the Nusselt number initially increases,consistent with the increased flow velocity,and then slightly decreases in the high fluid temperature region,mainly owing to the decreased heat absorption rate from the endothermic pyrolytic chemical reactions.

Artificial neural network analysis of the Nusselt number and friction factor of hydrocarbon fuel under supercritical pressure

This paper presents the Nusselt number and friction factor model for hydrocarbon fuel under supercritical pressure in horizontal circular tubes using an artificial neural network(ANN)analysis on the basis of the back propagation algorithm.The derivation of the proposed model relies on a large number of experimental data obtained from the tests performed with the platform of supercritical flow and heat transfer.Different topology structures,training algo-rithms and transfer functions are employed in model optimization.The performance of the optimal ANN model is evaluated with the mean relative error,the determination coefficient,the number of iterations and the convergence time.It is demonstrated that the model has high prediction accuracy when the tansig transfer function,the Levenberg-Marquardt training algo-rithm and the three-layer topology of 4-9-1 are selected.In addition,the accuracy of the ANN model is observed to be the highest compared with other classic empirical correlations.Mean relative error values of 4.4%and 3.4%have been achieved for modeling of the Nusselt number and friction factor respectively over the whole experimental data set.The ANN model estab-lished in this paper is shown to have an excellent performance in learning ability and general-ization for characterizing the flow and heat transfer law of hydrocarbon fuel,which can provide an alternative approach for the future study of supercritical fluid characteristics and the associ-ated engineering applications.

Frictional resistance of supercritical pressure RP-3 flowing in a vertically downward tube at constant heat fluxes

Based on the demands of compact heat exchangers and micro cooling channels applied for aviation thermal protection, the flow resistance characteristics of aviation kerosene RP-3 were experimentally studied in a vertically downward circular miniature tube with an inner diameter of 1.86 mm at supercritical pressures and constant heat fluxes. A long and short tube method was used to accurately calculate the frictional pressure drop, and experimental conditions are supercritical pressures of 4 MPa, mass flow rates of 2–4 g/s(i.e., mass fluxes of 736–1472 kg/(m^(2)·s)), heat fluxes of 100–500 kW/m^(2), and inlet temperatures of 373–673 K. Results show that the sharp variations of thermophysical properties, especially density, have significant influences on frictional resistances.Generally, the frictional pressure drop and the friction factor increase with increasing inlet temperatures, and this trend speeds up in the relatively high-temperature region. However, the friction factor has a sudden decline when the fuel outlet temperature exceeds the pseudo-critical temperature.The frictional pressure drop and the friction factor basically remain unchanged with increasing heat flux when the inlet temperature is relatively low, but increase quickly when the inlet temperature is relatively high. Besides, a larger mass flux yields a higher pressure drop but does not necessarily yield a higher friction factor. Finally, an empirical friction factor correlation is proposed and shows better predictive performance than those of previous models.

Numerical study on non-uniform heat transfer deterioration of supercritical RP-3 aviation kerosene in a horizontal tube

The convective heat transfer of supercritical-pressure RP-3(Rocket Propellant 3)aviation kerosene in a horizontal circular tube has been numerically studied,focusing mainly on the non-uniform heat transfer deterioration along the circumferential direction.The governing equations of mass,momentum and energy have been solved using the pressure-based segregated solver based on the finite volume method.The re-normalization group(RNG)k-εturbulence model with an enhanced wall treatment was selected.Considering the heat conduction in the solid wall,the mechanism of heat transfer deterioration and the buoyancy effect on deteriorated heat transfer were discussed.The evolution of secondary flow was analyzed.Effects of the outer-wall heat flux,mass flux,pressure and tube thermal conductivity on heat transfer were investigated.Moreover,the buoyancy criterion and the heat transfer correlation were obtained.Results indicate that the poor flow performance of near-wall fluid causes the pseudo-film boiling,further leads to the heat transfer deterioration.The strong buoyancy has an effect of enhancing the heat transfer at the bottom of tube,and weakening the heat transfer at the top of tube,which results in the non-uniform inner-wall temperature and heat flux distributions.Decreasing the ratio of outer-wall heat flux and mass flux,increasing the pressure could weaken the heat transfer difference along the circumferential direction,while the effect of thermal conductivity of tube on the circumferential parameters distributions is more complicated.When the buoyancy criterion of(Grq/Grth)max≤0.8 is satisfied,the effect of buoyancy could be ignored.The new correlations work well for non-uniform heat transfer predictions.

Temperature Profiles of a Vertical, 7-Element Bundle Cooled with Supercritical Freon-12

A set of experimental data obtained at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering in a vertical bundle cooled with supercritical R-12 was analyzed. The test section was a 7-element bundle installed in a hexagonal flow channel with three grid spacers. Data was collected at pressures of approximately 4.65 MPa for several different combinations of wall and bulk-fluid temperatures that were below, at, or above pseudocritical conditions. Analysis of the data has confirmed that there are three distinct heat-transfer regimes for forced convention in supercritical fluids： （1） normal heat transfer, （2） deteriorated heat transfer, and （3） enhanced heat transfer. It was also confirmed that the effects of spacers are evident which was previously observed in sub-critical experimental data. This work compares the wall and bulk fluid temperature data of the experiments to predictions based upon current 1-D correlations for heat transfer in supercritical fluids.

Mechanism of CO_(2) enhanced oil recovery in shale reservoirs

Combined with NMR,core experiment,slim-tube tests,nano-CT and oil composition analysis,the mechanism of CO(2) enhanced oil recovery had been studied.CO_(2) flooding under supercritical state could achieve higher oil recovery.In the process of crude oil displaced by supercritical CO2,the average oil recovery was 46.98% at low displacement pressures and 73.35% at high displacement pressures.The permeability of cores after CO2 flooding was only 28%-64% of those before flooding.As to the expelled oil,the contents of asphaltenes and non-hydrocarbons decreased,and saturated hydrocarbons of above C25 were absent in some samples,indicating that they had been retained in cores as demonstrated by CT and NMR experiments.In slim-tube tests,the heavy components of oil were expelled when the pressure increased to 30 MPa.There was a reasonable bottom hole pressure(BHP) below which the heavy components driven out from the far-well zone would deposit in the near-well zone,and when the pressure was too high,the nonhydrocarbon detention may cause block.The smaller throat and worse physical properties the porous media had,the higher displacement pressure would be required to achieve a good oil displacement efficiency.The increase in displacement pressure or time of interaction between oil and CO2 could effectively enhance oil recovery.

A numerical study of counterflow diffusion flames of methane/air at various pressures

A numerical study of the counterflow diffusion flames of methane/air at both subcritical and supercritical pressures,which have very important applications in the air-breathing rocket and advanced gas turbine engines,is conducted to obtain fundamental understanding of the flame characteristics.The analysis is based on a general mathematical formulation and accommodates a unified treatment of general fluids thermodynamics and accurate calculations of thermophysical properties.Results reveal that the maximum flame temperature occurs on the fuel-rich side for low-pressure conditions and shifts toward the stoichiometric position when the pressure increases.The maximum flame temperature increases with an increasing pressure,but decreases with an increasing strain rate.The flame width is inversely proportional to the square root of the product of the pressure and strain rate as■■1 p·a2/1.The total heat release rate varies with the pressure and strain rate in a relationship of Q release ■(p·a)0.518.An increased pressure leads to a slightly more complete combustion process near the stoichiometric position,but its effect on NO production is minor.Under the test conditions,variations of the strain rate have significant impacts on the formation of major pollutants.An increased strain rate leads to the decreased mole fraction of CO in the fuel-rich region and significantly reduced NO near the stoichiometric position.

Deterioration in Heat Transfer of Endothermal Hydrocarbon Fuel

Numerical studies under supercritical pressure are carried out to study the heat transfer characteristics in a single-root coolant channel of the active regenerative cooling system of the scramjet engine, using actual physical properties of pentane. The relationships between wall temperature and inlet temperature, mass flow rate, wall heat flux, inlet pressure, as well as center stream temperature are obtained. The results suggest that the heat transfer deterioration occurs when the fuel temperature approaches the pseudo-critical temperature, and the wall temperature increases rapidly and heat transfer coefficient decreases sharply. The decrease of wall heat flux, as well as the increase of mass flow rate and inlet pressure makes the starting point of the heat transfer deterioration and the peak point of the wall temperature move backward. The wall temperature increment induced by heat transfer deterioration decreases, which could reduce the severity of the heat transfer deterioration. The relational expression of the heat transfer deterioration critical heat flux derives from the relationship of the mass flow rate and the inlet pressure.