Analytical Treatment of Gravity Effects on Gas Loaded Variable Conductance Heat Pipes

Abstract

The formulation of a one-dimensional analytical model representing steady state operation of a vertically oriented gas loaded variable conductance heat pipe is presented. The model includes not only the effects of binary mass diffusion and axial pipe-wall conduction, but also gravitational effects which exist at the vapor-gas interface region when the molecular weights of the working fluid and the noncondensible gas differ significantly. Analytical expressions for the transport processes (mass, momentum, and energy) along with equations of state result in a system of ten equations which describe steady state operation of the device. Combining these expressions yields a system of two simultaneous highly non-linear differential equations. These equations are non-dimensionalized and set up for numerical integration using a variable step fourth order Runge Kutta method as part of IBM's Continuous System Modeling Program (CSMP).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1980
Accession Number
ADA097679

Entities

People

  • David C. Kane

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Differential Equations
  • Diffusion Coefficient
  • Engineering
  • Equations Of State
  • Heat Energy
  • Heat Pipes
  • Heat Transfer
  • Heat Transfer Coefficients
  • Heat Transfer Devices
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Methanols
  • Molecular Weight
  • Numerical Integration
  • Runge Kutta Method
  • Steady State
  • Three Dimensional
  • United States

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Computer Science.
  • Finite Element Method (FEM) for solving Partial Differential Equations (PDEs)