An experimental study of parameters affecting a heat pipe performance

Abstract EN

An experimental test rig was designed and manufactured to investigate the performance of a heat pipe (HP).

The heat pipe consists of a stainless steel pipe lined with a three-layer stainless steel mesh wick.

The evaporator section of the heat pipe was surrounded by three heaters representing the heat source.

The condenser was jacketed with galvanized cylinder to accommodate the cooling water flow.

The entire HP was insulated.

Different affecting parameters were investigated experimentally in this study including the power input the filling charge of the working fluid (water) represented by a volumetric ratio with respect to evaporator volume and the inclination angle with a horizontal line.

All tests were carried out at a pressure around the atmospheric pressure during steady state conditions.

The experimental results showed that the conductivity was about (2060) times that of the solid piece of the stainless steel (the material of the HP).

A comparison between the present work results with empirical and theoretical correlations of other researchers showed a good agreement.