Recent Developments in Heat Pipe technology

Rajan Gosavi F.Y.M.Tech. ( Thermal )

Finned Heat Pipe

How it Works !!!

Heat Added Heat Released Heat Sink Heat Pipe
Heat

Processor

How it Works !!!

Heat Absorbed

Container Wick Structure

Heat Released

Evaporation Wick Structure

Condensation

Heat Absorbed

Container

Heat Released

New Envelope Materials For High Temperature Applications

Copper

is the traditional envelope and wick material for water heat pipes at temperatures below about 150C. At higher temperatures where the vapor pressure of water increases rapidly, copper is not an acceptable envelope material, due to its low strength and high mass density.

New Envelope Materials - For High Temperature Applications

ACT

has focused on the following materials that have the best chance of being compatible with water at elevated temperatures. These materials also have high yield strengths, low densities and good commercial availability: Monel 400, a solid solution alloy with roughly 63% nickel and 30% copper Monel K500, a similar nickel-copper alloy with the addition of aluminum and titanium.

New Envelope Materials - For High Temperature Applications

The major consequences of incompatibility are : corrosion, generation

of non-condensable gases,

The resulting corrosion products can block portions of the wick, preventing the heat pipe from operating properly. In more extreme cases, the heat pipe can leak.

New Working Fluids For High Temperature Applications

Water's

surface tension drops off quickly as the temperature increases, placing increasing burdens on the capillary wick design. ACT identified a number of potential intermediate temperature working fluids including Dowtherm, Sulfur/Iodine mixtures, Iodine, Naphthalene, Phenol, Toluene, Mercury and several halides.

New Working Fluids For High Temperature Applications

Sulfur

has a temperature dependent polymerization property at 475K, which increases its liquid viscosity to approximately three orders of magnitude higher than the maximum level for effective heat pipe operation. The addition of 3-10% of iodine reduces the viscosity of sulfur to a level sufficient for effective heat pipe operation. A disadvantage of iodine is its low liquid thermal conductivity.

New Working Fluids For High Temperature Applications

Another

set of potential working fluids is the halide salts of titanium, aluminum, boron, phosphorus and silicon. Titanium tetrachloride are more polar , increases the Latent heat & the liquid transport factor.

New Working Fluids For High Temperature Applications

High

temperature heat pipes are typically defined as heat pipes that operate between 400 and 1100C. Three fluids are typically used to cover this range; Cesium, Potassium, and Sodium. The operating range for each fluid is shown below: Cesium 300 to 600C (572 to 1,112F) Potassium 400 to 1000C (752 to 1,832F) Sodium 500 to 1100C (932 to 2,012F)

High Temperature Heat Pipe Applications

Heat

Engine Receivers (Steam, Stirling, Brayton, Rankine) Solar Thermal Heat exchangers Hypersonic wing leading edges Waste heat recovery Nuclear power Thermoelectric Generators Isothermalizing furnace elements

New Development in Variable Conductance Heat Pipe

Vapor Space

Liquid Film Non-condensable Gas (NCG) Reservoir

PRESSURE CONTROLLED HEAT PIPES

(PCHP)

A temperature change at the evaporator causes a change in the position of a stepper motor, which in turn changes the volume of the reservoir. These changes produce very precise control of the location of the NGC interface and result in very precise control of the evaporator temperature.

Low CTE and High Heat Flux Vapor Chamber Heat Spreaders Vapor chamber heat spreaders are planar heat pipes that spread heat from concentrated heat source(s) to a large area heat sink with effective thermal conductivities greatly exceeding copper.

Loop Heat Pipes ( LHP )

ACT has been developing high temperature titanium/water LHPs. Titanium has a number of advantages over other materials: Titanium has high strength and low density, ideal for low mass radiators. Titanium has a coefficient of thermal expansion that better matches the carbon-carbon fins than stainless steel. Titanium is compatible with a large number of fluids, including ammonia, water and the alkali metals.

High Temperature Loop Heat Pipes with multiple condensers

Representative Electronics Assembly

High Temperature Loop Heat Pipes with multiple condensers

High Temperature Loop Heat Pipes with multiple condensers

High Temperature Loop Heat Pipes with multiple condensers

High Temperature Loop Heat Pipes with multiple condensers

High Temperature Loop Heat Pipes with multiple condensers

High Temperature Loop Heat Pipes with multiple condensers

References

Advanced Cooling Technologies , Inc. Cooling Aircraft Technology Boxes , U.S. Patent Pending , 2010.

Advanced Cooling Technologies , Inc. ACT HiK Plates , http://www.1-act.com/products/commercial-military/hik-plate , 2009. Anderson , W.G. , Dussinger , P.M. Loop Heat Pipe Design , A.S.M.E. 2009 Heat Transfer Summer Conference , San Fransisco , CA, July 19-23, 2009.

HEAT PIPE

THANKS !!!!