Multiphase Phenomena In Thermal Management Systems

A multi-component, multiphase flow model is proposed for modeling fuel/coolant properties throughout a fuel-cooled flow network for advanced thermal management systems. The Phase I program will develop a multiphase model to quantify the effects of the working fluids under multiphase conditions so that accurate overall system level thermal performance may be modeled and assessed. The multiphase flow model will be modular so that it may be executed as a standalone code or integrated with existing thermal management tools for high speed and low speed systems. The Phase I code will be applicable to gas turbines, rockets, scramjets, and space power generation systems. Fuel will be used as the primary coolant medium, and the multiphase effects to the cooling capacity will be quantified. Specific goals of the program are to develop and generate a physical model to describe and represent the multiphase conditions of fuel, use the model to quantify the multiphase flow conditions in a representative thermal management system, and validate the physical model using computational fluid dynamics. The Phase II effort will further develop the multi-phase flow model by incorporating additional multiphase flow regimes, adding a library of multiphase fuels, and validating the model with experimental data. BENEFIT: The multiphase flow model proposed herein is a commercially marketable software package focused on meeting the challenges facing high-speed air and space transportation in the 21st Century. This software package provides customers with a user-friendly multiphase flow network tool that may be applied in the design of heat exchangers for advanced thermal management systems. Applications include commercial aviation, missiles, and access to space. Potential customers in this field include both military (Air Force, Navy, Army, NASA and DARPA) and commercial (aircraft, propulsion, automotive, and power generation) customers. In addition, long-term commercialization also includes SPIRITECHs propulsion system components that will be developed using the software.