Numerical and Experimental Study on Thermal Performance of Low Temperature Heat Pipe With Two Heaters

Abstract

A study on the operation of a heat pipe with two heat sources has been performed to optimize the heat distribution of two heaters. A numerical modeling is used to predict the temperature profiles for the heat pipe assuming cylindrical two dimensional laminar flow for the vapor, and the conduction heat transfer for the wall and wick. An experimental study using the copper-water heat pipe with a length of 0.45 m has been performed to evaluate the numerical model developed. Temperature profiles at the outer wall and the comparison of temperature distribution for the total heat input range from 29W to 94W are presented. Also the correlation between the heat input and the temperature increase is presented for the optimum distribution on two heaters. The result shows that the outer wall temperature can be controlled by redistribution of heat sources.