Analysis of heat transfer characteristics for kerosene in helical tube of kerosene heater

A program of one-dimensional heat transfer analysis was developed for the kerosene heater based on gas heating to estimate its operation parameters, and the calculation results have a maximum error of 9.7% by comparing with experimental results. Researches on the characteristics of flow and heat transfer of the kerosene heater, and the effects of several factors on the operation rules were studied using the program. Under the typical condition, the results indicate that from inlet to outlet Re and Pr have varied greatly with temperature increasing, Re from 5.94×104 to 2.39×106 and Pr from 11.2 to 1.4, and this shows the convection is complex. The velocity of kerosene increases gradually and the settling time in high temperature range is short, only 0.28s, then coke deposition effect is small. The main factors that influence heating ability of kerosene heater are temperature gas, mass flow rate of kerosene and mass flow rate of gas, with the effect weakening gradually, and the pressure of kerosene and gas almost have nothing to do with the process of heat transfer. The program could indicate operation performance of the kerosene heater, and the results could offer reference for design of cooling configuration of ramjet.