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Characterisation of a grooved heat pipe with an anodised surface

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Abstract

A grooved heat pipe (GHP) is an important device for managing heat in space applications such as satellites and space stations, as it works efficiently in the absence of gravity. Apart from the above application, axial GHPs are used in many applications, such as electronic cooling units for temperature control and permafrost cooling. Improving the performance of GHPs is essential for better cooling and thermal management. In the present study, the effect of anodization on the heat transfer characteristics of a GHP is studied with R600a as a working fluid. In addition, the effects of fill ratio, inclination angle and heat inputs on the heat transfer performance of a GHP are studied. Furthermore, the effect of heat flux on dimensional numbers, such as the Webber, Bond, Kutateladze and condensation numbers, are studied. The inclination angle, heat input and fill ratio of GHPs are varied in the range of 0°–90°, 25–250 W and 10–70 % respectively. It is found that the above parameters have a significant effect on the performance of a GHP. Due to the anodisation, the maximum enhancement in heat transfer coefficient at the evaporator is 39 % for a 90° inclination at a heat flux of 11 kW/m2. The reported performance enhancement of a GHP may be due to the large numbers of nucleation sites created by the anodisation process and enhancement in the capillary force due to the coating.

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Abbreviations

\(Bo\) :

Bond number \(\left( {D\left[ {g\frac{{\rho_{l} - \rho_{v} }}{\sigma }} \right]^{{\frac{1}{2}}} } \right)\)

\(c_{p,l}\) :

Specific heat of coolant fluid (J/kg K)

\(Co\) :

Condensation number \(\left( {\frac{h}{k}\left[ {\frac{{\mu^{2} }}{{g\rho^{2} }}} \right]^{{\frac{1}{3}}} } \right)\)

D:

Diameter (m)

h :

Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)

I :

Current (A)

T :

Temperature (°C)

k :

Thermal conductivity (W/m K)

l :

Length (m)

\(\dot{m}_{l}\) :

Mass flow rate of coolant (kg/s)

\(Ku\) :

Kutateladze number \(\left[ {\frac{q}{{\left[ {\rho_{v} h_{fg} \left( {\frac{{\rho_{l} - \rho_{v} }}{{\rho_{v}^{2} }}} \right)} \right]^{{\frac{1}{4}}} }}} \right]\)

Q :

Heat transfer rate (W)

q :

Heat flux (W/m2)

R :

Resistance (°C/W)

r :

Radius (m)

V :

Voltage (V)

W :

Width of groove (m)

\(We\) :

Webber number \(\left( {\frac{{Q^{2} }}{{\rho_{v} D^{3} h_{fg}^{2} \sigma }}} \right)\)

\(\sigma\) :

Surface tension (N/m)

\(\theta\) :

Contact angle

\(\rho\) :

Density (kg/m3)

\(\mu\) :

Viscosity (Ns/m2)

hp :

Heat pipe

out :

Outlet

in :

Inlet, input

e :

Evaporator

c :

Condenser

e,i :

Evaporator inner wall

c,i :

Condenser inner wall

sat :

Saturation

o :

Outer

T :

Total

l :

Liquid

v:

Vapor

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Acknowledgments

The authors appreciate the technical assistance of Mr Jeyaseelan of the Centre for Research in Material Science and Thermal Management, Karunya University, during fabrication and testing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research in Material Science and Thermal Management, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Karunya University, Coimbatore, India

    A. Brusly Solomon & B. C. Pillai

  2. Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    A. Brusly Solomon, Mohsen Sharifpur & Josua P. Meyer

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, KSR Institute for Engineering and Technology, Namakkal, India

    A. M. Ram Kumar

  4. Department of Physics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India

    K. Ramachandran

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore, India

    C. Senthil Kumar

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  1. A. Brusly Solomon
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  4. B. C. Pillai
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Correspondence to A. Brusly Solomon.

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Solomon, A.B., Ram Kumar, A.M., Ramachandran, K. et al. Characterisation of a grooved heat pipe with an anodised surface. Heat Mass Transfer 53, 753–763 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-016-1856-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-016-1856-8

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