Correction for Nusselt Number Correlations of Transcritical Methane Based on Radial Velocity Distribution

Abstract

This article conducts three-dimensional simulations for transcritical flow and heat transfer of methane in a rectangular channel under asymmetric heating conditions and compares the accuracy of three different Nusselt number correlations. A correction method for the Nusselt number correlation based on the secondary correction of the radial velocity distribution is proposed. The results show that by correcting the three correlations using the proposed method, the error of the average Nusselt number under the condition of heat transfer deterioration between the calculated values and the ones obtained from numerical simulations are reduced from 88.26%, 11.41%, 19.29% to 13.71%, 0.47%, and 6.02%, respectively. Compared with the correlation obtained by directly modifying based on the heat transfer deterioration condition data, the Nusselt number correlations modified by the proposed method achieve higher accuracy, and the calculation error are limited to within 15%. Overall, the modified Bishop correlation has the highest calculation accuracy among the three correlations, and the errors between the calculated values and those obtained from numerical simulations are limited within 6% under different mass flow rates.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Meng Zhang

Meng Zhang is an engineer in the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute. He received his B.Sc. degree in aircraft design engineering in 2015 and his Ph.D. degree in aerospace propulsion theory and engineering in 2021 from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has published over ten international journals and conference papers. His research interests are in the field of transcritical heat transfer of methane, liquid rocket engines thermal protection, and power system design.

Wubing Miao

Wubing Miao is an engineer in the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute. He received his B.Sc. degree in thermal and power engineering in 2009 from Harbin Institute of Technology. He has published over ten international journals and conference papers. His research interests are in the field of mechanical design, cryogenic fluid dynamics, and design of the launch vehicle.

Yang Li

Yang Li is an engineer in the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute. He received his B.Sc. degree in thermal and power engineering in 2004 from Harbin Engineering University, and his Ph.D. degree in engineering thermophysics in 2011 from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He has published over ten international journals and conference papers. His research interests are in the field of cryogenic refrigeration, cryogenic fluid dynamics, and design of the launch vehicle.

Huangjun Xie

Huangjun Xie is an engineer in the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute. He received his B.Sc. degree in thermal energy and power engineering from Nanjing University of Science and Technology in 2015, and a Ph.D. degree in refrigeration and cryogenic engineering from Zhejiang University in 2021. He has published six international journals and conference papers. His research interests are in the field of special valve design for spacecraft and launch vehicles, adaptability of spacecraft single unit products under coupled mechanical and thermal conditions, and power system design.

Shumiao Zhu

Shumiao Zhu is an engineer in the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute. She received her B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering in 2018 and her M.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering in 2021 from Xi’an Jiaotong University. She has published over ten articles and patents. Her research interests are in the field of gear manufacturing process, kinematics and dynamics characteristics of die-cutting machine, and hybrid transmission system design.