An experimental study of thermal performances for pump-assisted loop heat pipes

Abstract

The present experimental study investigated the thermal performances of two loop heat pipes (LHP) that were respectively driven by capillary force along and combined capillary and pumping forces with R245fa as working fluid The start-up performance loop pressures thermodynamic cycles evaporator and condenser Nusselt numbers and total thermal resistances affected by boiling number (Bo) condenser thermal resistance and Reynolds number (Re) were examined by adjusting heating power cooling condition of condenser and flow rate of working fluid For improving the thermal performance of the pump-driven LHP the matrix type evaporator and the newly devised condenser were adopted to replace the conventional capillary type evaporator and tube-fin condenser The comparative thermal performances between the present pump driven LHP and the pump-assisted conventional capillary LHP were studied Two sets of empirical correlations that evaluated the total thermal resistances of the present pump driven LHP and the pump-assisted conventional capillary LHP were generated to assist the relevant engineering applications

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English
Supervisor	Shyy-Woei Chang (Supervisor)