Investigation of grooved heat pipe evaporators employing vapor release slots
Abstract
The heat transfer process for a special class of wick fed grooved heat pipe evaporators was investigated analytically and experimentally. The evaporators were slotted to permit the immediate release of the vapor generated at the evaporator surface. The limiting mechanism for the critical heat rate was postulated to be a capillary limit. Performance was analyzed primarily as a function of slot characteristics, although conventional heat pipe parameters were also included in the results. Thirty-one variations of the basic design were then investigated experimentally and compared with the predicted performance. Based on observations and the experimental results, the menisci were located between the groove tips and the transport wick rather than at the base of the grooves as usually observed and postulated. Considerable enhancement over nonslotted evaporators was noted for certain cases.
- Publication:
-
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Pub Date:
- June 1979
- Bibcode:
- 1979thph.confT....O
- Keywords:
-
- Conductive Heat Transfer;
- Evaporators;
- Grooves;
- Heat Pipes;
- Mathematical Models;
- Slots;
- Vapor Jets;
- Heat Flux;
- Hydrodynamic Equations;
- Menisci;
- Performance Prediction;
- Permeability;
- Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer