Experimental investigation on heat transfer of supercritical RP-3

Experiments are performed to investigate heat transfer characteristics of supercritical RP-3. The test section is a 2100 mm long, 2.2 mm O.D., 1.8 mm I.D., stainless steel tube (manufactured with 1Cr18Ni9Ti). RP-3 is heated electrically up to 427°C from 127°C as it flows through the test tube. The variation of convective heat transfer coefficient (hin) along the tube is achieved by measuring outer tube and fuel temperature at 0 min, 20 min, 30 min, 45 min and 60 min. The influence of coke deposition on heat transfer is also studied. The experimental results reveal that hin increases gradually as RP-3 temperature rises up in subcritical state, hin maintains at a constant value as it reaches to approximately 1.8 × 104 W/(m2 · °C) for supercritical RP-3. The heat transfer is enhanced significantly at near-critical zone. The coke deposition has great effects on RP-3 heat transfer, which decreases as coke accumulated on tube surface.