Abstract

Nowadays the heat transport technology has been improved by using heat pipes. When compared to conventional methods, the main advantage of involvement of a heat pipe is the transport of large quantities of heat through small cross-sectional areas over a considerable distance only using heat as the external energy source. The heat pipes are a good choice for different applications such as industrial or aerospace. In the present study, experimental and calculated results for the thermal conductances are presented for three copper heat pipes designed, fabricated, and tested with screen mesh wick as a porous structure operating at a mid-level temperature with power step and power cycles, using water as the working fluid. The objective of this study was to verify the thermal performance of heat pipes, especially when operating in cycles where dryout can occur in the evaporator, interrupting the operation of heat pipes. The thermal conductances obtained from experimental tests were used to correlate the thermal conductance obtained analytically, where it considers an adjustment given by the adjustment actor that involves uncontrolled variables that are inherent to the manufacturing process of heat pipes.