Flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical hydrocarbon fuel in mini channels with dimples

An idea of using dimples as heat transfer enhancement device in a regenerative cooling passage is proposed to extend the cooling limits for liquid-propellant rocket and scramjet. Numerical studies have been conducted to investigate the flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical hydrocarbon fuel in a rectangular cooling channel with dimples applied to the bottom wall. The numerical model is validated through experimental data and accounts for real fuel properties at supercritical pressures. The study shows that the dimples can significantly enhance the convective heat transfer and reduce the heated wall temperature. The average heat transfer rate of the dimpled channel is 1.64 times higher than that of its smooth counterpart while the pressure drop in the dimpled channel is only 1.33 times higher than that of the smooth channel. Furthermore, the thermal stratification in a regenerative cooling channel is alleviated by using dimples. Although heat transfer deterioration of supercritical fluid flow in the trans-critical region cannot be eliminated in the dimpled channel, it can be postponed and greatly weakened. The strong variations of fuel properties are responsible for the local acceleration of fuel and variation of heat transfer performance along the cooling channel.