Comparison of heat transfer characteristics of aviation kerosene flowing in smooth and enhanced mini tubes at supercritical pressures

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the heat transfer performance of aviation kerosene flowing in smooth and enhanced tubes with asymmetric fins at supercritical pressures and to reveal the effects of several key parameters, such as mass flow rate, heat flux, pressure and inlet temperature on the heat transfer. Design/methodology/approach - A CFD approach is taken and the strong variations of the thermo-physical properties as the critical point is passed are taken into account. The RNG k-epsilon model is applied for simulating turbulent flow conditions. Findings - The numerical results reveal that the heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing mass flow rate and inlet temperature. The effect of heat flux on heat transfer is more complicated, while the effect of pressure on heat transfer is insignificant. The considered asymmetric fins have a small effect on the fluid temperature, but the wall temperature is reduced significantly by the asymmetric fins compared to that of the corresponding smooth tube. As a result, the asymmetric finned tube leads to a significant heat transfer enhancement (an increase in the heat transfer coefficient about 23-41 percent). The enhancement might be caused by the re-development of velocity and temperature boundary layers in the enhanced tubes. With the asymmetric fins, the pressure loss in the enhanced tubes is slightly larger than that in the smooth tube. A thermal performance factor is applied for combined evaluation of heat transfer enhancement and pressure loss. Research limitations/implications - The asymmetric fins also caused an increased pressure loss. A thermal performance factor ? was used for combined evaluation of heat transfer enhancement and pressure loss. Results show that the two enhanced tubes perform better than the smooth tube. The enhanced tube 2 gave better overall heat transfer performance than the enhanced tube 1. It is suggested that the geometric parameters of the asymmetric fins should be optimized to further improve the thermal performance and also various structures need to be investigated. Practical implications - The asymmetric fins increased the pressure loss. The evaluation of heat transfer enhancement and pressure loss Results showed that the two enhanced tubes perform better than the smooth tube. It is suggested that the geometric parameters of the asymmetric fins should be optimized to further improve the thermal performance and also various structures need to be investigated to make the results more engineering useful. Originality/value - The paper presents unique solutions for thermal performance of a fluid at near critical state in smooth and enhanced tubes. The findings are of relevance for design and thermal optimization particularly in aerospace applications.