Prediction of Fuel Freezing in Airplane Fuel Tanks of Arbitrary Geometry — Part 1

Abstract

PHOENICS, a general 3‐D Navier‐Stokes computer program, was used to simulate cooling and freezing of jet fuel stored in airplane fuel tanks. A 3‐D analysis is required for fuel tanks of arbitrary geometry exposed to time dependent and nonuniform boundary temperatures. The work reported in this paper concentrated on 2‐D simulations of fuel cooling and freezing in a wing tank and external (pylon) tanks as a step toward the 3‐D analysis. Significant progress has been made on obtaining plausible solutions over the entire range of conditions considered. The same model, with appropriate changes for fuel properties, could also be used to predict fuel heating in airplane fuel tanks during supersonic flight conditions.

Citation

McConnell, P.M., Owens, S.F. and Kamin, R.A. (1986), "Prediction of Fuel Freezing in Airplane Fuel Tanks of Arbitrary Geometry — Part 1", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 58 No. 9, pp. 20-25. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb036337