The Influence of Loop Heat Pipe Evaporator Porous Structure Parameters and Charge on Its Effectiveness for Ethanol and Water as Working Fluids

Krzysztof Błauciak; Paweł Szymański; Dariusz Mikielewicz

doi:10.3390/ma14227029

The Influence of Loop Heat Pipe Evaporator Porous Structure Parameters and Charge on Its Effectiveness for Ethanol and Water as Working Fluids

Abstract

Abstract: This paper presents the results of experiments carried out on a specially designed experimental rig designed for the study of capillary pressure generated in the Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) evaporator. The commercially available porous structure made of sintered stainless steel constitutes the wick. Three different geometries of the porous wicks were tested, featuring the pore radius of 1, 3 and 7 um. Ethanol and water as two different working fluids were tested at three different evaporator temperatures and three different installation charges. The paper firstly presents distributions of generated pressure in the LHP, indicating that the capillary pressure difference is generated in the porous structure. When installing with a wick that has a pore size of 1 um and water as a working fluid, the pressure difference can reach up to 2.5 kPa at the installation charge of 65 mL. When installing with a wick that has a pore size of 1 um and ethanol as a working fluid, the pressure difference can reach up to 2.1 kPa at the installation charge of 65 mL. The integral characteristics of the LHP were developed, namely, the mass flow rate vs. applied heat flux for both fluids. The results show that water offers larger pressure differences for developing the capillary pressure effect in the installation in comparison to ethanol. Additionally, this research presents the feasibility of manufacturing inexpensive LHPs with filter medium as a wick material and its influence on the LHP’s thermal performance.

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Authors (3)

Krzysztof Błauciak
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
- Gdańsk University of Technology
Paweł Szymański dr inż.
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
- Gdańsk University of Technology
Dariusz Mikielewicz prof. dr hab. inż.
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
- Gdańsk University of Technology

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Articles

Type:

artykuły w czasopismach

Published in:

Materials no. 14,
ISSN: 1996-1944

Language:

English

Publication year:

2021

Bibliographic description:

Błauciak K., Szymański P., Mikielewicz D.: The Influence of Loop Heat Pipe Evaporator Porous Structure Parameters and Charge on Its Effectiveness for Ethanol and Water as Working Fluids// Materials -Vol. 14,iss. 22 (2021), s.7029-

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