Thermal performance characteristics of heat pipes

Theoretical and experimental studies are conducted to evaluate the overall thermal performance of single-component and gas-loaded heat pipes. In the analysis, the simple conduction model developed recently for the single-component heat pipes has been extended to predict the wall temperature profiles of gas-loaded heat pipes with phase change occurring in the evaporator wick. Experimental evaluation of the thermal performance is made with two working fluids (water and acetone) under two corresponding sink environments (boiling water and boiling alcohol). The heat pipe system is designed with variable-length heat input and output sections under a wide range of heat input conditions. Measured results agree well with theoretical predictions.