Compact Heat Exchangers with Curved Fins for Hydrogen Turbofan Intercooling

Paper in proceeding, 2024

Hydrogen is being considered as a possible path towards
carbon-neutral aviation. There are additional advantages
besides its main benefit of CO2-free combustion. One application
is to use it for aero engine heat management due to its cryogenic
temperature and high heat capacity, including intercooling and
exhaust heat recuperation. The focus of this paper is on the
design of a compact heat exchanger integrated into an
intermediate compressor duct (ICD), which could decrease
compression work and specific fuel consumption (SFC). This
compact heat exchanger features curved fins to promote flow
turning and decrease pressure losses compared to more
conventional straight fin heat exchangers. Conceptual design
and duct shape optimization has been carried out which
produced integrated ICD heat exchanger designs with
significantly lower air-side total pressure losses compared to
their conventional straight fin counterparts, which could
improve system level integration and engine performance. A
direct outcome of this study is a pressure loss correlation which
can be used in future engine system level trade studies.