A thermal analytical model for predicting the temperature distribution of a cylindrical geometry evaporator of a loop heat pipe is presented. The wick structure proposed is made of a thin layer of sintered metal powder and is considered filled with working fluid. The resulting porous medium has a thin uniform layer thickness, and it is modeled as flat plate operating in steady-state condition, in a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate. A Laplace-type equation is solved. The methods of separation of variables and superposition are used to solve the mathematical problem. A scale analysis is used to obtain an expression relating the wick geometry and thermophysical properties. With these models, the loop heat pipe evaporation limit, given by the porous media-casing interface temperature, which must be lower than the working fluid saturation temperature, can be determined. A statistical experiment analysis technique was employed to study the influence of several parameters in the thermal model. Mathematical model results were compared with numerical simulation data for a loop heat pipe evaporator. Using the mathematical tool developed, a copper cylindrical evaporator of a loop heat pipe was designed, constructed, and tested, using an experimental setup especially constructed for this purpose. The good comparison between analytical results and data validates the model proposed.
Thermal Model for Sintered Cylindrical Evaporators of Loop Heat Pipes
Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer ; 31 , 1 ; 165-177
2016-07-19
13 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English