Modeling, Design, and Commissioning of a Heated Water Loop for Wind Tunnel Heat Exchanger Testing

This paper describes the development of a heated water loop to enable heat exchanger testing within a subsonic, suction-driven wind tunnel. The loop is designed to provide hot water to a heat exchanger, which is cooled by the air flowing though the wind tunnel. First, thermodynamic modeling of the testing is presented with a focus on data reduction methodology and uncertainty analysis. Using these results, requirements for the test loop and a test plan are developed. Then, the design and selected components for the loop are described. Lastly, a description of the ongoing commissioning testing of the loop is given.