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57

Heat Pipes
57.1 Heat Pipe Container, Working Fluid, and Wick Structures 57.2 Heat Transfer Limitations 57.3 Effective Thermal Conductivity 57.4 Application of Heat Pipes

Jay M. Ochterbeck
Clemson University

The heat pipe is a capillary-driven two-phase (liquidvapor) heat transfer device that transfers heat from a heat source to a heat sink. Gaugler originally conceived the basic concept of the heat pipe in 1944, but the operational characteristics of heat pipes were not widely publicized until independent developments by Trefethen in 1962 and by Grover and colleagues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1964. Many types of heat pipes since have been developed and are widely used in a variety of industries. The main attractive feature is that a heat pipe is a passive heat transfer device that transfers heat over relatively long distances via the latent heat of vaporization of a working uid. The uid is circulated by capillary pressure developed in a wick, or porous material. Figure 57.1 shows a schematic of a heat pipe, which may be inclined at an angle y relative to gravity. A heat pipe generally has three sections: an evaporator section for heat addition, an adiabatic (or transport) section, and a condenser section for heat rejection. The major components of a heat pipe are a sealed container, a wick structure, and a working uid. The wick structure is placed on the inner surface of the heat pipe wall, is saturated with liquid working uid, and provides the structure to develop the capillary action for liquid returning from the condenser to the evaporator section. With evaporator heat addition, the working uid is evaporated as it absorbs an amount of heat equivalent to the latent heat of vaporization, while in the condenser section, the working uid vapor is condensed. The mass addition to the vapor core in the evaporator and the mass rejection in the condenser result in a pressure gradient along the vapor channel that drives the vapor ow. Liquid return through the wick to the evaporator from the condenser is provided by the liquid pressure difference, which is due to the net difference in capillary pressures in the evaporator and condenser sections. Classication of heat pipes may be in terms of geometry, intended applications, or the type of working uid utilized. Proper selection and design of the heat pipe container, working uid, and wick structure are essential to the successful operation of a heat pipe. The heat transfer limitations and effective thermal conductivity dene the operational characteristics of the heat pipe.

57.1 Heat Pipe Container, Working Fluid, and Wick Structures


The combination of the container, working uid, and wick structure of a heat pipe determines its operational characteristics. The container and wick must be chosen to take into account chemical compatibility with the working uid. Chemical reactions between the working uid and the container/

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The Engineering Handbook, Second Edition

Evaporator

Open Vapor Core

Direction of Gravity Wick Adiabatic Region

Condenser

Q in (Heat Source)

Liquid Flow

0 90 r1

Q out (Heat Sink)

180

FIGURE 57.1 Schematic of a typical heat pipe.

wick (or with contamination not removed during processing) can seriously impair heat pipe performance. Noncondensible gases created during a chemical reaction will accumulate near the end of the condenser, thus decreasing the condensation surface area. This reduces the ability of the heat pipe to transfer heat to the external heat sink. The heat pipe container also must have high burst strength, low weight, and high thermal conductivity. Using the proper working uid for a given application is a critical element of proper heat pipe operation. The working uid must have good thermophysical properties for the specied operational temperatures. The operational temperature range of the working uid lies between the uid triple point and critical point, as a two-phase saturated liquidvapor condition must exist. Working uids used in heat pipes range from cryogenic (e.g., nitrogen) to room temperature (e.g., water) to liquid metals (e.g., sodium). The wettability of the working uid contributes to its capillary pumping and priming (lling of the wick) capability. High-surface-tension uids are desired for heat pipe use as the surface tension relates to the necessary capillary pumping. However, the maximum heat transport of a heat pipe depends on a combination of thermophysical properties, which include the latent heat of vaporization, viscosities of the liquid and vapor, densities, and surface tension. Selections of uids are typically based on groupings of the uid properties referred to as a Figure of Merit found in Chi [1976] or Peterson [1994], which allow direct comparison of one uid to another over given temperature ranges. The wick structure provides the path for liquid return to the evaporator and provides the structure for the necessary capillary forces to be developed. Heat pipe wicks can be made from numerous porous
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Heat Pipes

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Entrainment Limit

Axial Heat Flux

Wicking or Capillary Limit Sonic Velocity Limit

Boiling Limit

Vapor Pressure Limit Temperature

FIGURE 57.2 Heat transfer limitations in heat pipes.

materials, where some examples are wrapped screens, sintered particles, axial grooves, annular passages, and arterial. To optimize performance, more than one type of porous material can be used to balance the need for small pore sizes (high capillary pressures) with the need for high permeability (minimal ow resistance). These composite wicks can be made from variable screen mesh, screen-covered grooves, and screen tunnels with grooves. The selected pairing of the wick structure and working uid determines the heat transfer limitations of heat pipes.

57.2 Heat Transfer Limitations


The heat transported by a heat pipe (i.e., heat transfer limitation) depends on the working uid, the wick structure, the geometry of the heat pipe, and the heat pipe operational temperature. Figure 57.2 gives a qualitative description of the various heat transfer limitations, which include vapor pressure, sonic, entrainment, capillary, and boiling limitations. Each results from a specic, operational phenomenon within the heat pipe. The composite curve enclosing the shaded region in Figure 57.2 gives the maximum heat transfer rate transported by the heat pipe as a function of the operational temperature. The gure shows that, as the operational temperature increases, the maximum heat transfer rate of the heat pipe is limited by different physical phenomena. As long as the operational heat transfer rate falls within the shaded region, the heat pipe can function properly. It is important to note that within the heat transfer limitations, the vapor pressure and sonic limits do not represent failure cases only that the heat pipe must increase the operation temperature if the heat input exceeds these values. For the capillary, boiling, and entrainment limitations, these represent failure cases as sufcient liquid ow to the evaporator is not possible and the heat pipe will cease to operate properly above these values. The vapor pressure limitation (or viscous limitation) is reached when the required pressure drop in the vapor core reaches the same order of magnitude as the available vapor (saturation) pressure in the evaporator region. In this case, the total vapor pressure will be balanced by opposing viscous forces in the vapor channel. Thus, the total vapor pressure within the vapor region may be insufcient to sustain an increased ow. A general expression for the vapor pressure limitation is given by Dunn and Reay [1982]:
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The Engineering Handbook, Second Edition

Qvp,max =

p rv4h fg r v ,e Pv, e 12m v ,el eff

(57.1)

where rv is the cross-sectional radius of the vapor core (m), hfg is the latent heat of vaporization (J/kg), rv,e is the vapor density in the evaporator (kg/m3), Pv,e is the vapor pressure in the evaporator (Pa), and mv,e is the vapor viscosity in the evaporator (Nsec/m2). The value leff is the effective length of the heat pipe (m), equal to leff = 0.5(le + 2 la + lc). The vapor pressure limitation can occur during the startup of heat pipes at the lower end of the working uid temperature range. The sonic limitation also can occur in heat pipes at the low operating temperatures and is seen mostly in liquid metal heat pipes during startup. The low temperature produces a low vapor density. Thus, a sufciently high mass ow rate in the vapor core can cause sonic ow conditions and choke the ow, which restricts the pipes ability to transfer heat to the condenser. Dunn and Reay [1982] give an expression that was developed by Busse in 1973 for the sonic limitation: Qs ,max = 0.474 Av h fg (r v Pv )1/2 (57.2)

where Av is the cross-sectional area of the vapor core (m2). Operation near the sonic limit is also not desirable as the compressible vapor ow effects result in large temperature gradients along the heat pipe, thus resulting in large deviation from the ideal, near isothermal case. The entrainment limitation in heat pipes develops when the vapor velocity is sufcient to shear droplets of liquid from the wick surface, thus depleting the necessary liquid mass ow rate. A conservative estimate of the maximum heat transfer rate due to entrainment of liquid droplets has been given by Dunn and Reay [1976] and Faghri [1995] as r s Qe ,max = Av h fg v l 2rc ,ave
1/2

(57.3)

where sl is the surface tension (N/m) and rc,ave is the average capillary radius of the wick (m). As the driving potential for the circulation of the working uid is the capillary pressure difference, the maximum capillary pressure must be greater than the sum of all pressure losses inside the heat pipe. The pressure losses in heat pipes can be separated into the frictional pressure drops along the vapor and liquid paths and the pressure drop in the liquid as a result of body forces (e.g., gravity, centrifugal, electromagnetic). It is important to note that the inclination of the heat pipe can either be an adverse tilt (evaporator above condenser) or a favorable tilt (condenser above evaporator) such that the hydrostatic pressure either subtracts from, or adds to, the capillary pumping pressure. For many heat pipes, the frictional pressure losses in the liquid are much greater than the frictional losses in the vapor. In this case, the maximum heat transfer rate due to the capillary limitation can be expressed as [Chi, 1976] rl s l h fg Aw K 2 rl Qc ,max = - gLt cos y m l l eff rc ,e s l

(57.4)

where K is the wick permeability (m2), Aw is the wick cross-sectional area (m2), rl is the liquid density (m3), ml is the liquid viscosity (Nsec/m2), rc,e is the wick capillary radius in the evaporator (m), g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/sec2), and Lt is the total length of the pipe (m). For most practical operating conditions, this limitation is the primary limitation encountered and can be used to determine the maximum heat transfer rate in heat pipes. Chi [1976], Peterson [1994], and Faghri [1995] provide details on the full evaluation of the capillary limit when frictional vapor losses are signicant.

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Heat Pipes

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The boiling limitation in heat pipes occurs when the degree of liquid superheat in the evaporator is large enough to cause the nucleation of vapor bubbles within the wick structure. Boiling is undesirable in heat pipes because vapor bubbles within the wick obstruct the liquid ow in the evaporator. An expression for the boiling limitation is [Chi, 1976] 2pL eff k eff Tv 2s l 2s l h fg rl ln(ri / rv ) rn rc ,e

Qb ,max =

(57.5)

where keff is the effective thermal conductivity of the composite wick and working uid (W/m K), Tv is the vapor saturation temperature (K), ri is the inner container radius (m), and rn is the nucleation radius (conservative estimate is 2.00 10-6 m in the absence of noncondensible gas). The boiling limit differs from the other limits as it is a radial limit in the evaporator as opposed to axial transport in the case of the other limitations.

57.3 Effective Thermal Conductivity


One key attribute of the heat pipe is that it can transfer a large amount of heat while maintaining nearly isothermal conditions. The temperature difference between the external surfaces of the evaporator and the condenser can be determined from the following expression: DT = RtQ (57.6)

where Rt is the total thermal resistance (oC/W) and Q is the heat transfer rate (W). Figure 57.3 shows the thermal resistance network for a typical heat pipe and the associated thermal resistances. In most cases the total thermal resistance can be approximated by Rt = R1 + R2 + R3 + R5 + R7 + R8 + R9 (57.7)

as the resistances R10 and R11 are typically several orders of magnitude greater than the other resistances, thus negating the parallel path through these resistances. The effective thermal conductivity of the heat pipe is dened as the heat transfer rate divided by the temperature difference between the heat source and heat sink, k eff = Lt Rt At (57.8)

where At is the overall cross-sectional area of the pipe (m2). Under normal operating conditions, the total thermal resistance is relatively small, making the temperature in the evaporator nearly equal to that in the condenser. Thus, the effective thermal conductivity of a heat pipe is very high (several orders of magnitude greater than aluminum or copper).

57.4 Application of Heat Pipes


Heat pipes have been applied to a wide variety of thermal processes and technologies. One of the rst areas where heat pipes were widely used was in the aerospace industry, where heat pipes are used successfully in controlling the temperature of satellites, instruments, and space suits. Heat pipes also are applied in: 1. The electronics industry for cooling various devices (e.g., infrared sensors, parametric ampliers)

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The Engineering Handbook, Second Edition

R5

Vapor Core

Liquid/Vapor Interface in the Evaporator

R4

R6

Vapor/Liquid Interface in the Condenser

Wick/Fluid in the Evaporator (Radial Resistance)

R3

R7

Wick/Fluid in the Condenser (Radial Resistance)

R11

Container Wall in the Evaporator (Radial Resistance)

R2

Wick/Fluid (Axial Resistance)

R8

Container Wall in the Condenser (Radial Resistance)

R10

External Heat Exchanger in the Evaporator

Container Wall (Axial Resistance)

R1

R9

External Heat Exchanger in the Condenser

Q Heat Source

Q Heat Sink

FIGURE 57.3 Thermal resistance network in a heat pipe.

2. Computers for cooling of processors 3. The medical eld for surgery Other cooling applications include: 1. 2. 3. 4. Turbine blades, generators, and motors Nuclear and isotope reactors Heat collection from exhaust gases, and solar and geothermal energy The Alaskan pipeline

In general, heat pipes have advantages over many traditional heat-exchange devices when: 1. 2. 3. 4. Heat needs to be transferred nearly isothermally over relatively long distances. Low weight and passive operation are essential. Fast thermal-response times are required. Low maintenance is mandatory.

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Heat Pipes

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Further advances in the heat pipe eld include the development of the loop heat pipe by Maydanik and colleagues at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The loop heat pipe can transport even greater amounts of heat than standard heat pipes do as it separates the vapor passage from the liquid passage and reduces the overall size of the wick in the heat pipes. This optimizes the balance of small pores for capillary pumping and low frictional losses. Ochterbeck [2003] has further information on loop heat pipes.

Dening Terms
Capillary pressure The pressure developed across a curved liquidvapor interface, which is a function of the surface tension, the contact angle between the liquid and wick structure, and the pore size of the porous media. Effective thermal conductivity The heat transfer rate divided by the temperature difference between the evaporator and condenser outer surfaces. This relates the heat pipe to a conductivity which can be compared to conduction in a solid. Heat transfer limitations Limitations on the heat transfer capacity of a heat pipe which are imposed by different physical phenomena (e.g., vapor pressure, sonic, entrainment, capillary, and boiling). Wettability The ability of a liquid to spread over a surface. A wetting liquid spreads over a surface, whereas a nonwetting liquid forms droplets on a surface. Wick A porous material used to generate the capillary pressure that circulates the working uid in a heat pipe.

References
Chi, S. W. 1976. Heat Pipe Theory and Practice, Hemisphere, Washington, DC. Dunn, P. D. and Reay, D. A. 1994. Heat Pipes, 4th ed. Pergamon Press, Oxford, U.K. Faghri, A., 1995. Heat Pipe Science and Technology, Taylor and Francis, Washington, DC. Ochterbeck, J. M. 2003. Heat pipes. In Handbook of Heat Transfer, A. Bejan and A. Kraus (Eds.), John Wiley & Sons, New York. Peterson, G., P., 1994. An Introduction to Heat Pipes, John Wiley & Sons, New York.

Further Information
Recent developments in heat pipe research and technology can be found in the proceedings from a number of technical conferences: (1) the International Heat Pipe Conferences, (2) the ASME IMECE, and (3) the AIAA Thermophysics Conferences. An additional book particularly strong in fundamental heat pipe theory is The Principles of Heat Pipes by Ivanovskii, Sorokin, and Yagodkin, available from Clarendon Press (U.K.). Further questions can be addressed to the author at jochter@clemson.edu.

2005 by CRC Press LLC

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