Heat-transfer characteristics of the top heat mode closed-loop oscillating heat pipe with a check valve (THMCLOHP/CV)

The aim of this study is to investigate the heat-transfer characteristics of a top heat mode closed-loop oscillating heat pipe with a check valve (THMCLOHP/CV). Water and ethanol are used as the working fluids at various working temperatures. The results show that the specific heat flux increases significantly when the working temperature increases and when the aspect ratio of the evaporator length L _e to the pipe diameter d decreases for the pipe filling ratio varying from 30 to 80%. The maximum specific heat flux equal to 786.34 W/m² is reached with the use of ethanol as the working fluid at L _e /d = 25, angle of inclination to the horizontal axis 90°, and filling ratio of 80%.     

Investigation of a flat-plate oscillating heat pipe with Tesla-type check valves

Tesla-type check valves were integrated into a flat-plate oscillating heat pipe (FP-OHP) in order to promote and sustain a desired circulatory flow to increase overall thermal performance. Using neutron radiography, gray-scale images capturing the internal flow behavior within two bottom-heated copper FP-OHPs - one with Tesla-type valves (TV FP-OHP) and one without - both charged with water at a filling ratio of 70% - were collected. With the Tesla-type valves installed in the adiabatic section of the TV FP-OHP, it was found that circulation in the desired direction was promoted and that this promotion increased with heat input. The TV FP-OHP consistently possessed a lower thermal resistance than its counterpart without check valves. The percent-reduction in thermal resistance was on-the-order of 15-25% depending on the power input. Implementation of Tesla-type check valves is a promising means for circulatory flow rectification within an OHP, but future research is needed to further optimize valve design, quantity, and alignment.     

Advanced numerical method for a thermally induced slug flow: application to a capillary closed loop pulsating heat pipe

An advanced hybrid lumped parameter code for the simulation of Pulsating Heat Pipes is developed. Being able to simulate transient operative conditions and removing common physical simplified assumptions, it represents a step forward with respect to the present models of passive two‐phase systems. Mass, momentum and energy balances account for the thermal and fluid‐dynamics phenomena. Heterogeneous and homogeneous phase changes are directly integrated. In addition, a fitting correlation for the wall/vapour heat transfer coefficient is implemented and tuned against experimental data in order to evaluate the influence of the liquid film on conjugate heat transfer. The resulting numerical tool have been validated against experimental data achieved testing a copper pulsating heat pipe during the 58th ESA Parabolic Flight Campaign in several operative conditions and transient gravity levels. The predicted results show very good matching with the actual thermo‐physical behaviour of the system. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An experimental study on an oscillating loop heat pipe consisting of three interconnected columns

This paper presents some experimental results of an extensive research on a novel oscillating heat pipe. The heat pipe is formed of three interconnected columns as different from the pulsating heat pipe designs. The dimensions of the heat pipe considered in this study are large enough to neglect the effect of capillary forces. Thus, the self-oscillation of the system is driven by the gravitational force and the phase lag between the evaporation and condensation processes. The overall heat transfer coefficient is found to be approximately constant irrespective of heat load for the experimental cases considered. The results are also compared with the previously published data by other investigators for water as the working fluid and for the same heat input range. The experimental data for the time variation of the liquid column heights and the vapor pressure are correlated algebraically, convenient for practical uses.     

Thermodynamic analytical model of a loop heat pipe

A thermodynamics analytical model is developed to explore different parameters effects on a loop heat pipe (LHP). The LHP is a two-phase device with extremely high effective thermal conductivity that utilizes the thermodynamic pressure difference to circulate a cooling fluid. The effects of pipe length, pipe diameter, condenser temperature, and heat load are reported. As pipe length increases and/or pipe diameter decreases, a higher temperature is expected in the evaporator.     

Operational characteristics of miniature loop heat pipe with flat evaporator

Loop heat pipes are heat transfer devices whose operating principle is based on the evaporation and condensation of a working fluid, and which use the capillary pumping forces to ensure the fluid circulation. A series of tests have been carried out with a miniature loop heat pipe (mLHP) with flat evaporator and fin-and-tube type condenser. The loop is made of pure copper with stainless mesh wick and methanol as the working fluid. Detailed study is conducted on the start-up reliability of the mLHP at high as well as low heat loads. During the testing of mLHP under step power cycles, the thermal response presented by the loop to achieve steady state is very short. At low heat loads, temperature oscillations are observed throughout the loop. The amplitudes and frequencies of these fluctuations are large at evaporator wall and evaporator inlet. It is expected that the extent and nature of the oscillations occurrence is dependent on the thermal and hydrodynamic conditions inside the compensation chamber. The thermal resistance of the mLHP lies between 0.29 and 3.2°C/W. The effects of different liquid charging ratios and the tilt angles to the start-up and the temperature oscillation are studied in detail.     

Two-phase flow distribution of air–water annular flow in a parallel flow heat exchanger

The air and water flow distribution are experimentally studied for a round header – flat tube geometry simulating a parallel flow heat exchanger. The number of branch flat tube is 30. The effects of tube outlet direction, tube protrusion depth as well as mass flux, and quality are investigated. The flow at the header inlet is identified as annular. For the downward flow configuration, the water flow distribution is significantly affected by the tube protrusion depth. For flush-mounted configuration, most of the water flows through frontal part of the header. As the protrusion depth increases, more water is forced to the rear part of the header. The effect of mass flux or quality is qualitatively the same as that of the protrusion depth. Increase of the mass flux or quality forces the water to rear part of the header. For the upward flow configuration, however, most of the water flows through rear part of the header. The protrusion depth, mass flux, or quality does not significantly alter the flow pattern. Possible explanations are provided based on the flow visualization results. Negligible difference on the water flow distribution was observed between the parallel and the reverse flow configuration.     

Effect of pore size distribution in bidisperse wick on heat transfer in a loop heat pipe

The purpose of this article is to experimentally investigate the effect of different pore size distributions in bidisperse wicks upon the heat transfer performance in a LHP. Three bidisperse wicks and one monoporous wick were tested in a loop heat pipe. The pore size distributions of the bidisperse wicks were measured, and the results reflected the three different large/small pore size ratios. The experiments showed that the maximum heat load of the monoporous wick reached about 400 W; and the three bidisperse wicks showed improvements on the maximum heat load up to 570 W. For the monoporous wick, the evaporator heat transfer coefficients of 10 kW/m² K and total thermal resistance of 0.19°C/W were achieved at a high heat load of 400 W. For the better bidisperse wick, the evaporator heat transfer coefficients could attain about 23 kW/m² K and total thermal resistance of 0.13°C/W. The results also indicated that a smaller cluster size in a bidisperse structure created a small pore size ratio. It was also found that the bidisperse wick with smaller clusters had a better enhancement in terms of the evaporator heat transfer coefficient.     

Core-annular oil/water flow: the turbulent-lubricating-film model and measurements in a 5 cm pipe loop

Core-flow tests with a 3000 mPas fuel oil in a 5 cm test facility have revealed important information on the amplitudes and lengths of waves at the oil/water interface. The wavelengths vary considerably with water fraction and oil velocity. Moreover, the flow in the water annulus is turbulent. A previously developed theoretical model for steady core-annular flow in pipes has been extended by incorporating the effect of turbulence in the water film surrounding the oil core. The adapted model predicts the pressure-gradient increase with oil velocity correctly, provided that actual wave amplitudes and wavelengths observed during these tests are used as input data. The possible contribution of inertial effects is discussed.     

Two-phase pressure drop and flow visualization of FC-72 in a silicon microchannel heat sink

The rapid development of two-phase microfluidic devices has triggered the demand for a detailed understanding of the flow characteristics inside microchannel heat sinks to advance the cooling process of micro-electronics. The present study focuses on the experimental investigation of pressure drop characteristics and flow visualization of a two-phase flow in a silicon microchannel heat sink. The microchannel heat sink consists of a rectangular silicon chip in which 45 rectangular microchannels were chemically etched with a depth of 276 μm, width of 225 μm, and a length of 16 mm. Experiments are carried out for mass fluxes ranging from 341 to 531 kg/m² s and heat fluxes from 60.4 to 130.6 kW/m² using FC-72 as the working fluid. Bubble growth and flow regimes are observed using high speed visualization. Three major flow regimes are identified: bubbly, slug, and annular. The frictional two-phase pressure drop increases with exit quality for a constant mass flux. An assessment of various pressure drop correlations reported in the literature is conducted for validation. A new general correlation is developed to predict the two-phase pressure drop in microchannel heat sinks for five different refrigerants. The experimental pressure drops for laminar-liquid laminar-vapor and laminar-liquid turbulent-vapor flow conditions are predicted by the new correlation with mean absolute errors of 10.4% and 14.5%, respectively.     

Two-phase flow in a vertical pipe and the phenomenon of choking: Homogeneous diffusion model—I. Homogeneous flow models

The paper examines the topological structure of all possible solutions which can exist in flows through adiabatic constant-area ducts for which the homogeneous diffusion model has been assumed. The conservation equations are one-dimensional with the single space variable $\text{z.}$ but gravity effects are included. The conservation equations are coupled with three equations of state: a pure substance, a perfect gas with constant specific heats, and a homogeneous two-phase system in thermodynamic equilibrium. The preferred state variables are pressure $\text{P.}$ enthalpy $\text{h.}$ and mass flux $\text{G}{}^2$.The three conservation equations are first-order but nonlinear. They induce a family of solutions which are interpreted as curves in a four-dimensional phase space conceived as a union of three-dimensional spaces ($\text{P, h, G}{}^2\text{, z}$) with $\text{G}{}^2\text{=}\text{const}$ treated as a parameter. It is shown that all points in these spaces are regular, so that no singular solutions need to be considered. The existence and uniqueness theorem leads to the conclusion that through every point in phase space there passes one and only one solution-curve.The set of differential equations, treated as a system of algebraic equations of each point of the phase space, determines the components of a rate-of-change vector which are obtained explicitly by Cramer's rule. This vector is tangent to the solution curve. Each solution curve turns downward in $\text{z}$ at some specific elevation $\text{z}{}^1$, and this determines the condition for choking. Choking occurs always when the exit flow velocity at $\text{L = z}{}^1$ is equal to the local velocity of propagation of small plane disturbances of sufficiently large wavelength, that is when the flow rate $\text{G}$ becomes equal to a specified, critical flow rate, $\text{G}{}^1$. (The possible dependence of the sonic velocity on frequency in a real flow is ignored, because it has not been allowed for in the equations of the model under study.) A criterion, analogous to the Mach number, which indicates the presence or absence of choking in a cross section is the ratio $\text{K = G/G}{}^7$ of the mass-flow rate $\text{G}$ to the local critical mass flow rate. $\text{G}{}^7$, $\text{K = 1}$ denoting choking. The critical parameters depend only on the thermodynamic properties of the fluid and are independent of the gravitational acceleration and shearing stress at the wall.The topological characteristics of the solutions allow us to study all flow patterns which can, and which cannot, occur in a pipe of given length $\text{L}$ into which fluid is discharged through a rounded entrance from a stagnation reservoir and whose back-pressure is slowly lowered. The set of flow patterns is analogous to that which occurs with a perfect gas, except that the characteristic numerical values are different. They must be obtained by numerical integration and the influence of gravity must be allowed for.The preceding conclusions are valid for all assumptions concerning the shearing stress at the wall which make if dependent on the state parameters only, but not on their derivatives with respect to $\text{z}$. However, the study is limited to upward flows for which the shearing stress at the wall and the gravitational acceleration are codirectional.     

Wavy mode of the streaked flow around an oscillating cylinder in a stratified fluid at rest

The structures of the flow induced by a vertical circular cylinder performing transverse oscillations in a linearly stratified fluid at rest are investigated. The density gradient inhibits the onset of the three-dimensional instability. The instability appears as regularly spaced streaked flows along the cylinder axis. Each streaked flow follows a wavy path in the horizontal plane in a certain range of amplitude and frequency of the oscillations.     

Convective heat exchange of a viscoplastic fluid with temperature-dependent rheological characteristics during structural flow in a circular pipe

Heat exchange in a viscoplastic liquid moving in a circular pipe is investigated, taking into account the dependence of plastic viscosity and ultimate shear stress on temperature. A system of motion, energy, and continuity equations transformed under the assumption that the Pe and Pr numbers are much greater than 1 is solved on a computer by the method of finite differences using iterations. Results of the numerical solutions for the exponential form of the dependences of the rheological characteristics on temperature are analyzed in detail. A comparison of the numerical solutions with well-known theoretical solutions in particular cases and also with experimental data indicates their high precision.     

Theoretical investigation on thermal performance of heat pipe flat plate solar collector with cross flow heat exchanger

Based on the heat transfer characteristics of absorber plate and the heat transfer effectiveness-number of heat transfer unit method of heat exchanger, a new theoretical method of analyzing the thermal performance of heat pipe flat plate solar collector with cross flow heat exchanger has been put forward and validated by comparisons with the experimental and numerical results in pre-existing literature. The proposed theoretical method can be used to analyze and discuss the influence of relevant parameters on the thermal performance of heat pipe flat plate solar collector.