A Tank Heating Model for Aircraft Fuel Thermal Systems with Recirculation

Fuel thermal management has become an important consideration in the design and operation of modern high performance aircraft. In many cases, fuel is a primary heat sink for thermal loads associated with the cooling of the airframe as well as propulsion, electronic, actuator, and payload systems. It is now common for thermal systems to recirculate warm fuel to the tanks, resulting in a rise in temperature in the mission fuel mass. In this paper, a model is presented that integrates heat transfer during mission segments to determine the thermal endurance of an aircraft in terms of fuel tank temperature. The model is intended for early-phase trade studies to determine whether a proposed vehicle will be restricted in operational performance by tank temperature limits.