Visualization study on operating performance of a dual compensation chamber loop heat pipe under acceleration condition

Abstract

In this article, a novel visual dual compensation chamber loop heat pipe (DCCLHP) under acceleration conditions was experimentally investigated. The working fluid was deionized water and the wick material was sintered nickel powder. Visual windows were installed on both compensation chambers (CCs) and condenser in order to observe the vapor and liquid distribution. The operating performance and physical mechanism of the proposed DCCLHP under both acceleration direction A and B at different heat loads and acceleration magnitudes were analysed in a systematic manner. Direction A refers the acceleration direction which was parallel to the axis of the evaporator and the CC without a bayonet placed at the outer edge of the rotating arm. While direction B is defined as the acceleration direction was perpendicular to the axis of the evaporator and the evaporator was placed at the outer edge of the rotating arm. In the current study, the heat load varies from 30 W to 130 W and the acceleration magnitude ranges from 1 g to 15 g. Experimental results revealed that: (i) The larger the heat load, the higher the operating temperature. Obviously waving of the vapor-liquid interface in the CC is observed at direction A. Bubbles generated in the CCs and the vapor-liquid interface moves back and forth in the condenser during temperature oscillation at both 70 W and 90 W for the case of 13 g and direction B. (ii) Under direction B, the DCCLHP presents lower operating temperature and higher thermal conductance. The maximum temperature is 143.2 °C at 5 g and 90 W under direction A. The maximum thermal conductance is 1.70 W/K at 13 g and 130 W under direction B. (iii) In general, the operating temperature shows a trend of decreasing first and then increasing with the increase of acceleration. Whereas the thermal conductance shows an opposite behavior. The transition acceleration, namely the acceleration magnitude at the minimum temperature, is 13 g for the case of direction A. However, under direction B, the large heat load can result in a large transition acceleration. (iv) Intermittent spattering of liquid drops is observed in the CCs at 70 W and 15 g under direction A. The flow pattern under direction A is different with that under direction B at each heat load. Multiple segments of the liquid and vapor phase alternately distribute and stratified flow forms in the condenser.