Transcritical Methane Flows in LRE Cooling Channels

The knowledge of the flow behavior inside cooling channels is of great importance to improve design and performance of regeneratively cooled rocket engines. The modeling of the coolant flow is a challenging task because of its particular features, such as the high wall temperature gradient, the high Reynolds number and the 3Dgeometry of the passages. In case of Methane as coolant, a further complication is the transcritical operating condition of the fluid. In this thermodynamic regime large changes in the fluid properties can greatly influence the coolant flowfield and the heat transfer. In the present work a 3D-CFD code, able to describe the turbulent coolant flow inside the rectangular cooling channels with high aspect ratio is developed. Then, solutions of the transcritical Methane flowfield in asymmetrically heated 3D channel with high aspect ratio and strong wall temperature differences are presented and discussed.