DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, FABRICATION, AND TESTING OF A MICROCHANNEL HEAT EXCHANGER FOR AIRCRAFT THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

摘要

Honeywell Aerospace has been developing microchannel heat exchangers for intended use on aircraft thermal management systems. These heat exchangers could offer significant decreases in volume and/or weight compared to state-of-the-art aircraft heat exchangers constructed using offset plate and fin surfaces. A microchannel heat exchanger, designed to meet specific requirements for a particular fielded aircraft heat exchanger in present use, was fabricated and tested. The results validated the design approach and confirmed the potential volume reduction. There was little, if any, weight reduction, due primarily to the increased packing factors for the microchannel fins. In addition, Honeywell Aerospace has developed a validated approach enabling accurate design and optimization of microchannel heat exchangers for diverse boundary conditions.