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Applications of Sodium/GH4099 Heat Pipes for Nose Cap Cooling

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Abstract

In this study, sodium/GH4099 heat pipes are proposed for nose cap cooling. X-51 nose cap-like sodium/GH4099 heat pipe spreaders were designed and prepared in China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA). And their startup properties were tested at a 500 kW quartz lamp calorifier. The experimental results indicated that the sodium/GH4099 heat pipes startup successfully at heat flow of about 75 kW/m2, displaying a uniform temperature of about 800 °C. On the other hand, startup failures were also found. Working fluid of sodium leaked out of the GH4099 shell, resulting in temperature distributions of 684-946 °C. The frozen startup limit of sodium is 2.4, satisfying the criterion for frozen startup. At simulated aerothermal conditions of Ma 5–7, the heat pipe can decrease the stagnation temperature effectively to be lower than end-use temperature of GH4099. Thus, it is concluded that sodium/GH4099 heat pipes are feasible for nose cap cooling.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area, m2

c :

Specific heat, J/(kg·K)

c me :

Average effective specific heat of the wick over the liquid wick and the solid wick, J/(kg·K)

FSL:

Frozen startup limit

H:

Latent heat due to melting or freezing, J/kg

HP:

Heat pipe

h fg :

Latent heat of vaporization, J/kg

M cs :

Mass flow rate condensed on the solid-wick surface, kg/s

M t :

Working fluid inventory, kg

Q :

Radical heat flux w/m2

R c :

Equivalent space radius in evaporator, m

R o :

Outer pipe wall radius, m

R υ :

Equivalent space radius in condenser, m

T :

Operating temperature of heat pipe, K

T a :

Ambient temperature, or the initial temperature of the frozen heat pipe, K

T m :

Melting temperature, K

δ :

Wall or liquid-wick thickness, m

\( {\delta}_l^{\hbox{'}} \) :

Thickness of the working fluid in the wick, m

δ w :

Thickness of the wall, m

ε :

Radiation emissivity

ρ :

Density, kg/m3

ρ eff :

The effective density of the porous wick, kg/m3

σ :

The Stefan Boltzmann constant (W m−2· K−4)

φ :

Heat pipe wick porosity

a :

Adiabatic or ambient

eff :

(Effective)

l :

Liquid or working fluid in the liquid state in the wick

m :

Mushy phase

me :

Average effective specific heat of wick over the liquid and solid working fluid

w :

Wall or wick

υ :

(Vapor)

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank Dr. Xuejun Zhang and Dr. Liang Chen for the useful discussions about the results of thermal response simulation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, 17# Yungang West Rd, Beijing, 100074, China

    Siyuan Chen, Haitao Han, Jiatong Shi, Qin Lu, Longfei Hu & Bangcheng Ai

Authors
  1. Siyuan Chen
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  2. Haitao Han
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  3. Jiatong Shi
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  4. Qin Lu
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  5. Longfei Hu
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  6. Bangcheng Ai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Longfei Hu.

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This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Heat Pipe Systems for Thermal Management in Space

Guest Editors: Raffaele Savino, Sameer Khandekar

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Chen, S., Han, H., Shi, J. et al. Applications of Sodium/GH4099 Heat Pipes for Nose Cap Cooling. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 31, 417–424 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-019-09714-w

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