Heat transfer deterioration in upward and downward pipe flows of supercritical n-decane for actively regenerative cooling

In this paper, we consider the flow and heat transfer behaviour of turbulent upward and downward flows of supercritical n-decane, in order to reveal the features of heat transfer deterioration (HTD) that would be expected in relevant active regenerative cooling systems for scramjet engines. Specific focus is placed on key velocity-field features that appear in these flows. Following the validation of six turbulence models, the SST k-ω and RNG k-ϵ models are found to be suitable for simulating the upward and downward flow cases, respectively. “M” type velocity profiles (a non-monotonicity of the velocity along the radial direction) are observed, which arise due to a spatially-varying interplay between the inertial and viscous forces in the flow domain, while larger velocity gradients in the buffer layer are also observed that contribute to the phenomenon of HTD. Furthermore, it is found that the secondary flows as well as the different mass fluxes that arise due to the velocity increase from the wall to the flow core zone (i.e., the influencing range and intensity of cross-sectional kinetic energy), respectively, are observed in the HTD development region, as well as the HTD peak area and degradation regions. A zone of higher thermal diffusion appears in the near-wall region, which acts as a thermal barrier and contributes to HTD.