Viscosity Measurements of Endothermic Propellant EHF-TU and Aviation Kerosene RP-3 under Supercritical Pressures

Abstract

The heat absorption of onboard hydrocarbon fuel is an important means to solve the thermal protection problem of hypersonic vehicles, and the thermophysical properties of the fuel are the premise for designing the cooling channel. In this work, the viscosity of endothermic propellant endothermic hydrocarbon fuel-Tianjin University (EHF-TU) was experimentally measured in the range of pressure 3–7 MPa and temperature 300–605 K, while the pressure was 6–8 MPa and the temperature was 295–715 K for aviation kerosene RP-3. A special viscosity measurement device was designed, and the long and short parallel tube bank method was used to minimize the error caused by the local resistance. The viscosity measurement uncertainty of the two fuels was calculated in detail, and the accuracy of the experimental method is verified using n-decane. The viscosity of both fuels decreases with rising temperature and augments slightly with increasing pressure. The measurement results of this paper can provide basic support for the design of hydrocarbon fuel cooling channels for future hypersonic aircraft.