Experimental Investigations of Radially Rotating Miniature High-Temperature Heat Pipes

Abstract

A radially rotating miniature high-temperature heat pipe employs centrifugal force to return the condensate in the condenser section to the evaporator section. The heat pipe has a simple structure, very high effective thermal conductance and heat transfer capacity, and can work in hostile high-temperature environments. In this research, a high-speed rotating test apparatus and data acquisition system for radially rotating miniature high-temperature heat pipes are established. Extensive experimental tests on two heat pipes with different dimensions are performed, and various effects of influential parameters on the performance characteristics of the heat pipes are investigated. The ranges of the important parameters covered in the current experiments are: 470⩽ω2Za¯/g⩽1881; 47 W⩽Q⩽325W; di=1.5 and 2 mm; and 1.05×10−3m3/s⩽W⩽13.4×10−3m3/s. The experimental data prove that the radially rotating miniature high-temperature heat pipe has a high effective thermal conductance, which is 60–100 times higher than the thermal conductivity of copper, and a large heat transfer capacity that is more than 300 W. Therefore, the heat pipe appears to be feasible for cooling high-temperature gas turbine components.