A CONTROLLABLE HEAT PIPE EXPERIMENT FOR THE 5E-4 SATELLITE

Abstract

An observation was made during early heat pipe trials. An unwanted 'non-condensible' gas was present in a heat pipe and it was observed that the non-condensible gas (hydrogen) was concentrated at the heat-output end of the pipe and that the amount of heat liberated over the intended output area was proportional to the amount of non-condensible gas present. This experimental finding seems to be susceptible to the following logical explanation. Assume that initially the hydrogen was uniformly distributed throughout the pipe. As heat is put into the device the working fluid (sodium) is boiled off and the resulting gas flows from the heat-input end to the heat-output end. The sodium gas flow sweeps the hydrogen to the heat-output end; as long as the heat pipe is operated any hydrogen molecules tending to migrate from the output end are returned by the continuing sodium gas flow. The equilibrium situation thus created is illustrated.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 09, 1965
Accession Number
AD0695433

Entities

People

  • Theodore Wyatt

Organizations

  • Johns Hopkins University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Satellites
  • Electrical Loads
  • Engineering
  • Flow
  • Gas Flow
  • Heat Pipes
  • Heat Transmission
  • High Temperature
  • Hydrogen
  • Measurement
  • Physics
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Pipes
  • Power Supplies
  • Radioactive Decay
  • Temperature Control

Readers

  • Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Technology.
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster