Transient simulation of conjugate heat transfer of kerosene with thermal oxidative and surface coking reactions at a supercritical pressure

The regenerative cooling technology in aerospace applications often involves supercritical-pressure heat transfer of a hydrocarbon fuel, in which thermal oxidative reactions of the fuel would lead to surface coke accumulation on the cooling channel wall. In this paper, the long-term transient conjugate heat transfer of kerosene has been numerically investigated in a circular mini tube at a supercritical pressure of 3 MPa. The modified chemical mechanism and kinetics of thermal oxidative and surface coking reactions of kerosene are proposed, which, with an additional surface reaction, are capable of treating large coke deposition in regions with sharp temperature gradients. Transient surface coke accumulation and its effect on heat transfer are handled by a dynamic mesh technique. A series of numerical studies are conducted to elucidate the influences of surface heat flux, dissolved oxygen mass fraction, inlet fuel mass flow rate, and coke layer thermal conductivity on the supercritical-pressure heat transfer and thermal oxidative reactions. The effects of different reaction pathways on surface coke accumulation are analyzed comprehensively, and it is revealed that the oxygen-consuming surface coke deposition is initiated only at the high fuel temperature at around 590 K. The present numerical results would enhance fundamental understanding of the long-term transient heat transfer process of a hydrocarbon fuel at supercritical pressures in the regenerative cooling applications.