THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF FLAT PLATE PULSATING HEAT PIPES WITH MINI- AND MICROCHANNELS

Abstract

This study presents the thermal performance of pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) using distilled water with mini- and microchannels. The PHPs were fabricated with the channels of square cross section which had hydraulic diameters ranged from 1.6 to 3.2 mm in minichannels and from 0.714 to 0.941 mm in microchannels. The performance of the PHPs was measured and analyzed by varying hydraulic diameter, number of turns, filling ratio, and input power. The filling ratio of the working fluid varied from 0% to 100%. The input power was controlled in the range between 3.6 and 150 W. The hydraulic diameter, number of turns, filling ratio, and input power showed strong influence on the performance of the PHP. In the PHP models with mini- and microchannels, optimum working conditions, such as filling ratio and heat input, were quite different according to channel size.