Study of Heat Pipe Thermal Performance with Internal Modified Geometry

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of inserting a new internal tube packing (TP) on the thermal performance of a thermosyphon heat pipe (THP). The THP pipe was made from copper with an inner diameter of 17.4 mm and length of 600 mm. The new internal tube packing (TP) had a central copper disc with two copper tubes soldered onto both sides to transport vapor and condensate. The upper tube or riser had an inner diameter of 8.3 mm and was 300 mm long; it was connected to a hole in the disc from the upper side to transport the steam to the condenser section. The lower tube or downcomer had an inner diameter of 5 mm, was 225 mm long and was connected to the lower side of the disc to collect the condensate and transport it to the evaporator. The TP was inserted inside the THP to complete the design of the improved heat pipe (TPTHP). Experimental results showed that the TPTHP reduces the transit time from 16 to 11 min and the thermal resistance by 17–62% based on the input power and depending on the conditions of the THP. The results also showed that the inclination angle and filling ratio have no effect on the thermal resistance of the TPTHP.

Keywords

• thermosyphon
• heat pipe
• filling ratio
• inclination angle
• water
• geometry optimization