Continuum Transient and Frozen Startup Behavior of Conventional and Gas- Loaded Heat Pipes

Abstract

The heat pipe startup process is described physically and mathematically. During most of the heat pipe startup process, the continuum and rarefied vapor flows coexist along the heat pipe length. A two-region model is thereby proposed in which the vapor flow in the continuum region is modeled by the compressible Navier-Stokes equations, and the vapor flow in the rarefied region is modeled by the self-diffusion model. The two vapor regions are linked with appropriate boundary conditions, and the heat pipe wall, wick and vapor flow are solved as a conjugate problem. Both numerical and analytical solutions for the entire heat pipe startup process from the frozen state are compared with the corresponding experimental data with good agreement.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA284297

Entities

People

  • Amir Faghri

Organizations

  • Wright State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Differential Equations
  • Diffusion
  • Diffusion Coefficient
  • Equations
  • Experimental Data
  • Fluid Flow
  • Heat Capacity
  • Heat Energy
  • Heat Of Vaporization
  • Heat Pipes
  • Heat Transfer
  • Latent Heat
  • Payload
  • Steady State
  • Thermal Conductivity
  • Thermodynamics
  • Transition Temperature

Readers

  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.