(181ad) Heat Transfer and Drag Reduction for Water/NaSal/Ethoquad In a Mock Aviation Coolant Loop

PAO coolant loops in military aircraft are insufficient to handle the additional thermal loads of advanced avionics and weaponry.  As such, drop-in replacements are being sought.  Surfactant Drag Reducing Agents have been proposed as one possible solution in that for equal pressure drop, fluids can circulate faster without undergoing permanent shear degradation. 

Of course, with drag reduction comes a reduction in radial motion and thus a reduction in the film heat transfer coefficient at equal flow rate.  It is proposed that at the system level, the reduction in pressure losses in the system will be sufficient to increase the flows through the heat exchanger enough to enhance the heat transfer coefficient. 

In this study, the thermal performance of water is compared to that of a water/SDRA mixture as they flow through both laminar and turbulent style heat exchangers.