AEDX 09 - Heat Transfer

Module 5
HEAT TRANSFER PROBLEMS IN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

[Link]
Professor/Aerospace Engineering
 Introduction
• One major topic of gas turbine research is on viable methods
of improving fuel efficiency.
• In order to do this, a higher burn temperature in the
combustor must be achieved
• Higher combustion temperatures, however, will produce
larger amounts of pollutants.
• With the strict limitations of the modern day emission
standards and the continuing desire for higher fuel
efficiency in the gas turbine industry, it has become a
growing importance for combustor design engineers to
better understand the flow distribution within the combustor
and the heat transfer process between the gas flow path and
the combustor liner wall.
Heat transfer problems in combustion chambers
• With burn temperatures reaching levels higher than
the melting point of the materials used to construct
the combustors, the walls of the combustor must be
cooled in order to prevent damage or failure.

• A detailed analysis of the combustor liner heat

transfer will determine the necessary amount and
location of cooling along the wall and will prevent
any overcooled or under cooled regions.
Heat transfer problems in combustion chambers
• This will allow the combustor to run at an optimal
temperature for emissions and efficiency with
minimal losses to the combustor liner.
• The combustor liner wall heat transfer was also
measured on both the concave and convex walls of
a gas turbine engine annular combustor using inlet
radial swirlers.
• These findings will help better understand the flow
behavior inside the different combustors and
ultimately design an effective cooling scheme for
the combustor walls.
 Liner Wall Cooling Systems
• The combustor liner comprises the inner portion
of the combustor that contains the combustion
process.
• This exposes the liner to temperatures capable
of exceeding the melting point of the liner
material.
• Due to this occurrence, it is necessary to employ
an effective cooling scheme while still
maintaining the structural integrity of the liner
Liner Wall Cooling Systems
 Liner Wall Cooling Systems
• Various methods such as coating the walls with low
conductance ceramic material known as a thermal barrier
coating (TBC), or cooling techniques such as film cooling
and back-side cooling have been studied and proven to be
useful means of protecting the combustor from damage or
failure.
• Coolant air is injected into the combustor flow path via
holes or slots in the combustor liner. This creates a thin film
of cool air along the liner wall to regulate the wall
temperature and prevent the liner from overheating.
 Liner Wall Cooling Systems
• Proper design and regulation of this cooling scheme is
critical to the performance of the combustor.
• Too much coolant flow will result in wasted energy extracted
by the turbine to provide the excessive coolant flow, as well
as an overall decrease in the combustor temperature.
• This will resultantly decrease the fuel efficiency of the
engine. If too little coolant is used then the combustor walls
will overheat, which could lead to damage or destruction of
the combustor
 Pollutant Emissions

• Pollutant emissions have been a widely

researched topic, particularly in the last few
decades as emission standards have become
more stringent to protect the environment
• Production of these pollutants in gas turbine
engines occurs from the incomplete combustion
of the hydrocarbon based fuels and is directly
affected by the burn temperature in the
combustor
Pollutant Emissions
 Pollutant Emissions
• it can be seen that the production of NOx shows
an exponential growth as the combustor primary
zone temperature is increased.
• Therefore, in order to decrease the production of
NOx the combustor temperature must be
decreased
• However, the production of CO increases as the
combustor primary zone temperature is
decreased
 Pollutant Emissions
• With less air used for film cooling, the
combustors use focused cooling systems to cool
the walls. These intelligent cooling systems
provide the necessary amounts of coolant air
along the wall and prevent any hot spots from
forming.
• Figure shows a diagram of a can combustor
utilizing jet tubes along the combustor wall as
opposed to the traditional film cooling holes.
 Swirler
• A common method of achieving a more uniform
combustion temperature distribution and higher
fuel efficiency is by fitting a swirler nozzle to the
inlet to the combustion chamber.
• Flame stabilization
• Swirler enhances air and fuel mixing which
improves combustion fuel efficiency
To solve this problem and to achieve more efficiency
we have two options….

1. Using high temperature materials

2. Adapting optimum cooling methods
Flame-Tube Cooling
• A greater importance is given to flame-tube cooling to meet the
turbine inlet requirements and to achieve the minimum heat loss in
the combustor.

• The tube receives energy by convection from the hot gases and by
radiation from the flame. It losses energy by convection to the cooler
air flowing along the outside surface and by radiation to the outer
casing. But to maintain the tube wall temperature at a safe limit, a
common practice is to leave a narrow annular gaps between
overlapping sections of the flame tube so that a film of cooling air is
swept along the inner surface.

• Corrugated ‘wiggle strip’, spot welded to successive lengths of flame

tube, provides adequate stiffness with annular gaps which do not
vary too much with thermal expansion, as shown in figure.
• The flame tube is continued further with flanged
outlet holes for two stage mixing -- before the
hot gas is delivered to the turbine.
• An outer casing envelopes the inner can to form
an annular duct for secondary and tertiary air.
• The inner can has small holes in an array in
between the mixing zones to permit air entry in
tangential direction to the casing wall, thus
giving a cool air film which protects and extends
the life of the casing material.
 ROCKET THRUST CHAMBER COOLING

Techniques and Their Selection

• Because of the high combustion temperatures (4000° to 6000° F)

and the high heat transfer rates from the hot gases to the
chamber wall, thrust chamber cooling becomes a major design
consideration.
• For short-duration operation (up to a few seconds), uncooled
chamber walls can be used.
• For most longer-duration applications, a steady-state
chamber cooling system has to be employed.
1. Regenerative cooling
• Regenerative cooling is the most
widely applied method and
utilizes one or possibly both of
the propellants, fed through
passages in the thrust chamber
wall for cooling, before they are
injected into the combustion
chamber.

• The heat transfer in a

regeneratively cooled chamber
can be described as the heat flow
between two moving fluids,
through a multilayer partition.
Figure shows this process
schematically.
 1. Regenerative cooling
• The general steady-state correlation of heat transfer from the combustion gases
through the layers, which include the metal chamber walls, to the coolant can be
expressed by the following equations:
 1. Regenerative Cooling
• The bulk temperature Tco of the coolant increases from the point of entry until
it leaves the cooling passages, as a function of the heat absorbed, and of the
coolant flow rate.
• Proper balance of these parameters, to maintain the chamber walls at
temperatures below those at which failure might occur because of melting or
stress, is one of the major criteria for the design of regeneratively cooled thrust
chambers.
• For metals commonly used in thrust-chamber walls, such as stainless steel,
nickel, and Inconel, the limiting hot-gas-side wall temperature is around 1500°-
1800° F.
• The resultant differences between combustion gas temperature and wall
temperature range from 2500° to 6000 ° F.
• It is noted that the heat absorbed by the propellant used for regenerative cooling
raises temperature of the propellant, and thus the energy level before it is
injected into the combustion chamber.
• However, this effect on overall engine performance is slight, the gain usually being
less than 1 percent. On the other hand, regenerative cooling with attendant
pressure losses requiring additional turbopump power or higher gas
pressurization levels imposes a performance penalty.
1. Regenerative cooling
 2. Dump cooling
• Small percentage of the propellant, such as the hydrogen in a L02/LH2 engine, is
fed through passages in the thrust chamber wall for cooling and subsequently
dumped overboard through openings at the rear end of the nozzle skirt.
Because of inherent problems, this method has only limited application.

• The dump cooling technique may be particularly effective for applications in

hydrogen fueled, low-pressure systems (Pc < 100 psia).

• A small amount of the total hydrogen flow is diverted from the main fuel feed
line, fed through cooling passages and ejected.

• The heat transfer mechanism is similar to that of regenerative cooling. The

coolant, however, becomes superheated as it flows toward the nozzle exit,
where it is expanded overboard at reasonably high temperatures and
velocities, thus contributing some thrust.

• Application of dump cooling is often limited, however, by various technical

difficulties, such as discharge nozzle design at low coolant flow rates.
2. Dump cooling
 3. Film cooling
• Exposed chamber wall surfaces are protected from excessive heat with a thin
film of coolant or propellant which is introduced through manifolded orifices in
the chamber wall near the injector.

• Usually in several more planes toward the throat. The method has been
widely used, particularly for high heat fluxes, either alone or in combination with
regenerative cooling.

• Because of interaction between coolant film and combustion gases, as a result

of heat and mass transfer, the effective thickness of the coolant film decreases
in the direction of flow.

• In most cases, additional coolant must be injected at one or more downstream

chamber stations
3. Film cooling
3. Film cooling
 4. Transpiration cooling.
• Transpiration cooling is accomplished by introducing a coolant (either gaseous or
liquid propellants) through porous chamber walls at a rate sufficient to maintain
the desired combustion gas side chamber wall temperature.
• This method is essentially a special type of film cooling and has been widely
used.
 4. Transpiration cooling.
• The coolant is introduced through numerous drilled holes in the inner
chamber wall. In other designs, the wall may be made of porous material.
In both cases, the permeable chamber inner liner is enclosed by an outer
shell , forming a jacket from which the coolant emerges.
• For adequate design, the total coolant flow requirement and coolant
weight flow rate per unit area of cooled chamber wall must be
determined and then implemented by a practical method.
• The porous material used for the transpiration cooled chamber walls must
be selected and dimensioned for correct hydraulic resistance to render
the required coolant flow rate per unit surface area. It must also be able
to withstand the stresses caused by the pressure differential between
coolant and combustion gases, and thermal stresses. These
requirements impose certain limitations on the selection of materials and
on construction methods.
• The mechanical design of the coolant distribution system, therefore, is an
important factor for successful application of transpiration cooling.
 5. Radiation cooling
• With this method, heat is radiated away from the surface of the outer
thrust chamber wall. It has been successfully applied to low heat flux
regions, such as nozzle extensions.
• Cooling by radiation heat transfer is practical only for thrust chamber
nozzle extensions, where pressure stresses are lowest. High metal-wall
temperatures are required to attain the heat fluxes needed. Assuming
negligible temperature drop through the metal and coatings.
5. Radiation cooling
 HEATING ANALYSIS
The basic equation used to calculate the time rate of change of
heat stored in a thin skin element is given by
The selection of the best cooling
method for a given thrust chamber
Propellants
• The properties of the combustion products, such as temperature, specific heat. specific
weight, viscosity. etc .. have a direct bearing on the heat transfer rate and in turn affect the
chamber cooling requirements and methods.
• The cooling properties of the propellants and their relative flow rate decide whether they are
suitable or sufficient for regenerative or film cooling. Therefore, in evaluating a chamber
cooling system. the propellants involved will be one of the primary design considerations.
Chamber pressure
• High chamber pressure is linked with higher combustion gas mass flow rates per
unit area of chamber cross section and thus raises the heat transfer rate.
• Combined regenerative and film-cooling methods are usually employed for the
stringent requirement of higher chamber pressure applications.
 The selection of the best cooling
method for a given thrust chamber
Propellant feed system
• The type of propellant feed used in an engine system determines the pressure budget for the
system.
• In a turbopump-fed engine system, more pressure drop is usually available for chamber
cooling.
• The availability of this pressure drop permits the use of regenerative cooling
which requires propellant pressure sufficient to force the coolant through the
cooling passage before entering the injector.
• A pressurized-gas-fed engine system usually has more stringent pressure limitations and
operates on relatively low chamber pressures.
• This suggests the application of film, ablative. or radiation cooling.
 The selection of the best cooling
method for a given thrust chamber
Thrust chamber configuration.
• The geometric shape of the chamber affects local combustion gas mass flow rates and wall
surface areas to be cooled. This influences the choice of cooling method. It can also limit the
design arrangements for regenerative cooled tubular wall thrust chambers.

Thrust chamber construction material

• The properties of the thrust chamber materials will affect the cooling system design
profoundly.
• Strength at elevated temperature, combined with heat conductivity properties of a
metal. Will determine suitability for regenerative cooling systems.
 The selection of the best cooling
method for a given thrust chamber
• For film-cooled chambers higher allowable material working temperatures
are desired to reduce heat transfer rates and thus film coolant
flow rates.

The application of radiation cooling

• To a chamber depends largely on the availability of high temperature
(3000° F and up)refractory alloys.
• The success of ablative cooling depends entirely on the availability of
suitable composite plastic materials.
Aerodynamic Heating Problem
 Aerodynamic heating problem
• The airframe of missiles experience high
temperature due to aerodynamic heating
• Short range missiles materials can withstand
up to the temperature limit 300˚C
• Ballistic missile nose cone has warhead which
has to be protected during reentry, the missile
enters the atmosphere at a mach number of 8
• The temperature of fluid is maximum and this
heat is transferred from fluid to solid surface
 Aerodynamic heating problem
• At very high M when temperature exceeds
800K molecules start vibrating and separate
into atoms at 2000K
• At around 700K, even N2 dissociates into
ions(plasma) so nose cone is surrounded by
hot plasma and there is no transmission. This
makes the guidance & control system
ineffective.
 Aerodynamic heating problem
Remedy
• Thermal production system
• TPS will absorb most of heat & only less amount
of heat is transmitted to primary structure
Example
[Link] – epoxy composite
2. Carbon – carbon epoxy composite
3. Silica tiles
 Ablative Materials
• They are usually a composite material of high-temperature organic
or inorganic high strength fibers, namely high silica glass, aramids
(Kevlar), or carbon fibers, impregnated with organic plastic
materials such as phenolic or epoxy resin.
• The ablation process is a combination of surface melting,
sublimation, charring, evaporation, decomposition in depth, and
film cooling.