Integrated Aircraft Fuel Thermal Management

Advanced military aircraft have separate airframe and engine fuel thermal management systems resulting in less than maximum use of the onboard fuel heat sink (FHS). In response, the proposed integrated configuration combines airframe and engine FHS systems, and optimizes control of engine burn fuel to nozzle temperature limits. This approach results in lower main tank fuel temperatures, less fuel boiloff, smaller environmental control systems (ECS) increased capacity at mission completion, and less supplemental ram air cooling. Three FHS systems are parametrically compared as a function of mission, heat loads, fuel control temperatures, and component performance.