ROBUST AND PRECISE LIQUID AND SUPERCRITICAL FLOW RATE MEASUREMENT

Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit (APTU) ground testing of high speed/hypersonic vehicles requires support infrastructure to supply fuels at supercritical pressures and temperatures at or in excess of those experienced during flight.  When this aspect is combined with the necessity of pre-heating the hydrocarbon fuel to mimic fuel cooling operations of flight vehicle component hardware a novel flow measurement method is required.  The unknown thermodynamic nature of the hydrocarbon fuel entering the ramjet/scramjet configuration presents a significant challenge to precisely quantifying the amount combustible flow entering the engine.  State-of-the-art Coriolis flow measurement devices will be combined with instantaneous measurement and monitoring compensation for this heating and ensuing altered transport properties to provide precise and instantaneous fuel mass flow rate measurements downstream of the APTU Heated Fuel System (HFS).  Partnership with Emerson, combined with precise analytical and experimental fuel property calibration correction protocols, will permit implementation of commercial grade Coriolis measurement systems by contract end.  Existing CFD Research APTU test operational understanding will be leveraged to efficiently integrate and deliver two prototype Emerson hydrocarbon mass flow rate measurement systems robustly operational up to 800°F flow inlet temperature nine months after award.  These meters will be available for immediate calibration and/or implementation by the AFTC Hypersonic Systems and/or the AFRL/RQT Endothermic Fuels Test Branches.  Ongoing meter functional testing by both of these Air Force organizations and CFD Research will be focused on integration checkout and meter performance quantification (measurement uncertainty assessment, multiphase/decomposition quantification, necessary active cooling methods, etc.).  These efforts will culminate in the final delivery of two additional meters, the first operational up to 1000°F flow inlet temperature and the second operational up to 1200°F flow inlet temperature, with precise calibration documentation pertaining to accuracy, uncertainty, response time, etc.