Evaluation of thermal management scheme of engine cowl based on rotating heat pipe

Abstract

During the flight in icing conditions, ice may accrete on the aircraft engine cowl, and once it falls off, it will seriously affect the engine performance and even the flight safety of the aircraft. The rotating heat pipe performances good heat transfer characteristics in high-speed rotating conditions, and can be coupled with the high-speed rotating main shaft of the engine to implement the reuse of the engine waste heat for anti-icing of engine cowl. A certain type of engine cowl was selected in the paper, and the anti-icing area and heat load of the three-dimensional cowl were determined using CFD method. On this basis, literature researches were carried out, and feasibility of rotating heat pipe applicated on engine cowl was verified by the qualitative analysis of the rotating heat pipe’s thermal characteristics. Furtherly, based on the anti-icing requirements of the cowl, a rotating heat pipe was designed. Through the thermal experiment, the results show that the rotating heat pipe performs good thermal start-up and stability within 200W, and can meet the anti-icing demands of the engine cowl. From the qualitative and quantitative analysis, it can be convinced that the application of rotating heat pipe on thermal management of the engine cowl is feasible.