Experimental Study on a Multi-Evaporator Loop Heat Pipe with a Dual-Layer Structure Condenser

LU Depu, XIE Rongjian, WEN Jiajia

Journal of Thermal Science ›› 2023, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (4) : 1466-1476.

PDF(2929 KB)
PDF(2929 KB)
Journal of Thermal Science ›› 2023, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (4) : 1466-1476. DOI: 10.1007/s11630-023-1829-4  CSTR: 32141.14.JTS-023-1829-4

Experimental Study on a Multi-Evaporator Loop Heat Pipe with a Dual-Layer Structure Condenser

  • LU Depu1,2*, XIE Rongjian2, WEN Jiajia2
Author information +
History +

Abstract

A loop heat pipe (LHP) is a kind of passive heat transfer device that uses the latent heat of the working fluid and the capillary forces of the capillary wicks. It demonstrates high heat transfer efficiency, long-distance heat transfer, and high pipeline flexibility. The multi-evaporator loop heat pipe (MeLHP) is a special loop heat pipe with multiple evaporators so that heat collection and emission from multiple heat sources can be achieved. In this paper, a new type of the multi-evaporator loop heat pipe prototype with a dual-layer condenser was designed, which can ensure the uniform and symmetrical layout of pipelines. The working temperature was 20°C, and propylene was used as the working fluid. The performance of the same evaporator in a single-loop LHP was considered as a reference. The experiment was conducted under two heating modes, i.e. single-evaporator heating and multi-evaporator heating, and the working stability of the prototype was verified by applying periodic heating power change and adverse elevation condition. It was observed that the prototype can be successfully started in different heating modes with a heat transfer limit of 230 W. In the test, the four loops were different in heat transfer limit due to the differences of flow resistance, and less power distribution to the loop with lowest heat transfer limit was considered to be beneficial to the prototype’s performance. Meanwhile, the prototype showed good heat sharing characteristic as the maximum temperature difference is low (smaller than 2 K in single-evaporator heating mode and 0.5 K in multi-evaporator heating mode). The prototype was of good operational reliability and found to be adaptable to the adverse elevation and cyclic variation of the heating power to a certain extent.

Key words

multi-evaporator loop heat pipe / dual-layer condenser / heat sharing characteristic / propylene / variable heating power / adverse elevation

Cite this article

Download Citations
LU Depu, XIE Rongjian, WEN Jiajia. Experimental Study on a Multi-Evaporator Loop Heat Pipe with a Dual-Layer Structure Condenser[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2023, 32(4): 1466-1476 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-023-1829-4

References

[1] Li W.J., Cheng D.Y., Liu X.G., et al., On-orbit service (OOS) of spacecraft: A review of engineering developments. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 2019,  108: 32–120.
[2] Riehl R.R., Dutra T., Development of an experimental loop heat pipe for application in future space missions. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2005, 25(1): 101–112.
[3] Zhao Y., Yan T., Liang J., Experimental study on a cryogenic loop heat pipe with high heat capacity. International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 2011, 54: 3304–3308.
[4] Kuang Y.W., Yi C.C., Wang W., Modeling and simulation of large-scale separated heat pipe with low heat flux for spent fuel pool cooling. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2019, 147: 747–755.
[5] He J., Miao J.Y., Zhang H.X., et al., Current status and development trend of cryogenic heat pipe technologies in spacecraft. Vacuum & Cryogenics, 2018, 24(1): 1–8.
[6] Xiao B., Deng W.Z., Ma Z.Y., et al., Experimental investigation of loop heat pipe with a large squared evaporator for multi-heat sources cooling. Renewable Energy, 2020, 147: 239–248.
[7] Maydanik Y.F., Pastukhov V.G., Chernyshova M. A., et al., Development and test results of a multi-evaporator- condenser loop heat pipe. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2003, 654: 42–48.
[8] Bienert W.B., Wolf D.A., Nikitkin M.N., et al., Proof-of-feasibility of multiple evaporator loop heat pipes. Proceedings of the Sixth European Symposium on Space Environmental Control Systems, 1997, 400: 393–398.
[9] Yun S.J., Wolf D.A., Kroliczek E., Design and test results of multi-evaporator loop heat pipes. 29th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Journal of Aerospace, 1999, 108: 525–531. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44729439
[10] Nagano H., Ku J., Capillary limit of a miniature loop heat pipe with multiple evaporators and multiple condensers. 9th AIAA/ASME Joint Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference, AIAA 2006-3110, 2006. DOI: 10.2514/6.2006-3110
[11] Ku J., Ottenstein L., Douglas D., et al., Miniature loop heat pipe with multiple evaporators for thermal control of small spacecraft. Government Microcircuit Applications and Critical Technology Conference, 2005, Paper No. 183.
[12] Hoang T., Ku J., Mathematical modeling of loop heat pipe with multiple evaporators and multiple condensers, part I: Steady state simulation. 2004, AIAA Paper No. AIAA-2004-0577.
[13] Yun J., Wolf D., Hoang T., et al., Multiple evaporator loop heat pipe. 30th International Conference on Environmental Systems, SAE Technical Paper No. 2000-01-2410, 2000.
[14] Bugby D.C., Kroliczek E.J., Yun S.J., Development and Testing of a miniaturized multi-Evaporator hybrid loop heat pipe. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2005, 746: 69–81.
[15] Liu C.Z., Yang F., Dong D.P., et al., Experimental investigation on ethane double-evaporator cryogenic loop heat pipe. Low Temperature and Specialty Gases, 2012, 30: 7–11. (in Chinese)
[16] Cai Y.H., Li Z.T., Zhai J.M., et al., Experimental investigation on a novel multi-branch heat pipe for multi-heat source electronics. International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 2017, 104: 467–477.
[17] Qu Y., Wang S., Tian Y., A review of thermal performance in multiple evaporators loop heat pipe. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2018, 143: 209–224.
[18] Wang H., Lin G., Shen X., et al., Effect of evaporator tilt on a loop heat pipe with non-condensable gas. International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 2019, 128: 1072–1080.
[19] Joung W., Gam K., Park K., et al., Transient responses of the flat evaporator loop heat pipe. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2013, 57(1): 131–141.
[20] Zhang H.N., Shao S.Q., Gao Y.P., et al., The transient response, oscillation and internal flow of a loop thermosyphon with dual evaporators. International Journal of Refrigeration, 2018, 88: 451–457.
[21] Goncharov K., Golovin O., Kolesnikov V., Multi-evaporator loop heat pipe. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2000, 504(1): 778–784.

Funding

The work presented in this paper is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51776121).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023
PDF(2929 KB)

65

Accesses

0

Citation

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/