New Defrosting Method Using Jet Impingement for Precooled Turbojet Engines

Abstract

Precooled turbojet engines are effective propulsion systems for hypersonic aircraft. However, a serious problem is that frost forms on the cooling tubes of the precooler, thereby decreasing the engine performance. This paper presents a new method for defrosting the precooler using jet impingement. The validity of the proposed defrosting method was investigated through fundamental experiments. In the experiments, the frost formed on the cooling tubes of the single-row heat exchanger was removed by jet impingement. We used the jet periodically. The jet interval is 10-50 s. In addition, the jet duration is short (about 0.1 s). Therefore, the consumption of the high-pressure air to make the jet flow is small. The coolant temperature and main flow speed influences on the defrosting method effectiveness were assessed. Results show that this defrosting method is effective, especially when the coolant temperature and the main flow speed are low.