ADVANCED DESIGN OF A LOW COST LOOP HEAT PIPE AND COMPARISON WITH A NOVEL NUMERICAL APPROACH

Stefano Zinna

UNIHEAT, Dalmine, Bergamo,24044 Viale Marconi, 5 , Italy

Leonid Vasiliev, Marco Marengo, Claudio Ferrandi

University of Bergamo,Engineering Faculty, Dalmine, Bergamo, 24044 Viale Marconi, 5 , Italy
An advanced method for LHP evaporator wick manufacturing is suggested. A smallscale loop heat pipe (LHP) with an innovative nickel wick has been fabricated in Minsk, at the Luikov Institute, and tested to examine its thermal performances. The low-cost characteristic is given by the reduction of operations which are needed for the LHP wick fabrication. The present paper demonstrates that the novel evaporator wick is still presenting very high performances. A numerical approach based on electrical analogy (lumped method) for steady and unsteady mode has also been developed using a C++ environment. The unsteady code represents the main novelty about the loop heat pipe modeling as the standard lumped technique has been coupled with the distributed one: for the accurate description of local phenomena, the full partial dierential equations scheme are considered and solved by means of the nite volume method. The global model has been then simulated and the results have been compared with the experimental data. The model simulates reasonably well the transient response of the LHP. A more accurate evaporator scheme is required to take advantage of all the capabilities of this new approach.

Nomenclature
T M Cp m v P g hf g U Pr Re Nu Temperature, o C Mass, kg Specic Heat at constant pressure, J/kg K Flow rate, kg/s Velocity, m/s Pressure, Pa Gravity force, m2 /s Enthalpy evaporation, J/kg Heat transfer coecient, W/C m2 Density, kg/m3 Prandtl Number Reynolds Number Nusselt Number

I.

Introduction

Actually Loop Heat Pipes (LHP) have been used widely used in thermal control systems for space and ground applications15 . It is a passive heat transport device that uses capillary forces to circulate a twophase working uid trough the close loop. Therefore LHP uses only heat loaded energy as a pumping source
Technical

Director

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which is allowing it to become an attractive candidate for thermal systems from foolproof characteristic and durability. One of the main distinguish advantage of a LHP is that evaporator and condenser are separated, with the working uid recirculating in small metallic tubes between heat loaded and heat dissipation zones. Therefore, there is no counter ow of vapor and liquid, which allows to reduce the pressure losses especially in the LHP adiabatic zone. The capillary structure of LHP with ne pores is placed only in the heat load area, thus the capillary limit for this device is much higher than for a traditional heat pipe. The presence of vapor removal grooves on the outer surface of the LHP wick allows to evacuate the vapor, generated in the phase change process near the LHP hot wall, and remove it from the wick toward the LHP condenser. For this reason the boiling limit is also higher compared with conventional HPs.6 The main disadvantage of the LHP is still the very high price compare with other HPs designs. That is why recently a great interest has been raised to the investigation of a new low cost LHP approach.710 This paper will describe thermal performance of a small Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) consisting of a single evaporator and a single condenser in atmospheric conditions on ground. The main design novelty of the LHP consists in the low cost LHP wick made through the a new process designed and fabricated in National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. This new technology, that has been already successfully tested with dierent measurement campaigns and working uids,11 will be described in the next paragraph together with the experimental set-up. The experimental results will be then compared with a numerical model developed in this study. A numerical approach based on electrical analogy has already been proposed12, 13 and it is now a standard in heat pipe design. In this models a non trivial issue is the determination of the boundary conditions on the interfaces between the LHP and the remainder of the thermal system. The accurate calculation of the heat uxes and of the boundary temperatures is crucial to the proper determination of important phenomena as temperature oscillations or dry-out of the evaporator. On the other hand the lumped method is not always suitable for modeling thermal systems. This technique approximate reasonable well the behaviour of spatially distributed system whenever the Biot number is small. Otherwise, we must consider more general models, such as the distributed element model. For this reason a novel numerical mixed approach has been proposed to simulate the LHP working, in which the lumped and the local submodels are coupled at a mathematical and numerical level and solved together. In this study an aluminum saddle has been considered as the distributed model to simulate (by means of OpenSource code OpenFOAM14 ) the thermal mass and heat load connected with the LHP lumped system. By using these two dierent numerical techniques a full model of the LHP can be sketched and simulated. This approach that it has already been successfully used in other elds,15 it is a novelty in the heat pipe simulations. Further eorts are required to extend this method to other parts in the evaporator and condenser sections.

II.

LHP Design and Experimental Set-up Descroption

The LHP conguration developed in this work is schematically presented in Figure 1 with a detailed cross-sectional drawing of the evaporator. It is composed by an evaporator with compensation chamber (CC) cylindrical shape, a condenser, and the vapor and liquid lines. The cylindrical evaporator as well as the CC body is made of a stainless steel tube with a wall thickness 1mm. There are 10 longitudinal vapor removal grooves, 1.7 mm in diameter, on its inside surface, in which the vapor circulates (dashed lines in Figure 1). The LHP wick has 3 m mean pore diameter and is made of nickel powder with chemical additives. This combination of nickel powder and chemical additives gives the possibility to avoid the problem of wick volume decreasing during the sintering process and thus to apply the socalled pouring of loose material method for the wick fabrication. A co-axial linear countercurrent liquid heat exchanger is used as LHP condenser. A high grade hexane is used as LHP working uid. The detailed specications of the LHP evaporator are listed in table 1. Mixture of water and ethylene glycol has been used as a cooling media for the LHP condenser.

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Table 1.

LHP evaporator Total Length (mm) Number of vapor removal grooves Diameter of grooves (mm) Outer/Inner Diameter (mm) Compensation Chamber Length (mm) Inner Diameter (mm) Envelope Material Vapor Line Outer/Inner diameter (mm) Liquid Line Outer/Inner diameter (mm) Condenser Co-axial Liquid Heat Exchanger Length (mm) Inner Diameter pipe (mm) Pipe Material LHP Working Fluid Hexane

160 10 1.7 13.4/12 60 24 Stainless Steel 6/5 5/4

130 4/6 St. steel

II.A.

Experimental Set-up

The experimental set-up of the LHP is presented on Figure 2. The general goal of this set-up was to determine the heat pipe maximum power capacity and the temperature distribution along the LHP for dierent heat loads, condenser temperatures and testing positions. To reproduce the electronic components thermal activity, evaporator heating source is ensured by electric heaters, which are controlled by a DC power supply, while heat removal is performed by circulation of liquid through a co-axial liquid cooling jacket in condenser. The recirculating thermostat is used to provide continuing supply of cooling media at a constant temperature and ow rate where the temperature stability of coolant tank can be controlled with the accuracy of 0.1K. The heat load of the evaporator is applied through a PC controller. The LHP has been monitored by 7 T-type thermocouples. There are also two thermocouples on the outer surface of the compensation chamber (Figure 1), because the CC was constantly under two-phase conditions. All measured temperatures were transmitted to a PC through a Data Acquisition Switch Unit (Agilent 34970A) in real

Figure 1. A scheme of the LHP with location of the monitoring thermocouples (1-8)

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time and every ve seconds. Heat pipe tilt measurements have been realized by a system for tilt regulation. The whole LHP outer surface is thermally insulated using polyurethane foam.

Figure 2. Experimental set-up scheme: 1 - LHP disposed on the platform responsible for the heat pipe inclination, 2 liquid ow rate sensor, 3- thermostat, 4 - voltmeter, 5 - electric current sensor , 6 - electric source of energy, 7 - Data Acquisition Switch Unit with the set of thermocouples, 8 - PC

III.

Numerical Model

The mathematical model developed in this work for the LHP is based on the one-dimensional and timedependent conservation equations for heat and uid ow by electric analogy. The homogenous equilibrium model is used for the two-phase ow: the vapor and liquid phases have equal velocities and perfect mixing between the phases with equal temperatures and pressures is assumed. The full scheme of the equations is showed in the next paragraph. An ad-hoc model is considered for the evaporator (par. III.B). The main heat transfer paths are dened in order to get the proper response to various heat load transients. A saddle to keep the LHP linked to a metal plane, as for spatial applications, has been considered and simulated by the nite volume code OpenFOAM. Finally an iterative process has been used for the correct matching between the saddle and the evaporator body in order to guarantee the energy conservation during the transient mode. III.A. Node-link model

A lumped parameter model provides a description of the whole loop system by a suitable splitting of the system into elementary volumes or compartments. In each compartment the uid ow and pressures are modelled by ordinary dierential equations, which can be obtained by simplication of Navier-Stokes based models. A typical scheme for the integral mass, momentum and energy equations for an arbitrary volume, i, with material ow through various surfaces, designated by the subscript j (see gure 316 ) is dened as: Mi = t j vj Aj =
j

mj

(1)

m2 j mj A = Pi Pi+1 (f L/D + k) Ag sin() t L 2A2

(2)

Hi = mj1 hi1 m j hi + Q (3) t Where the friction force is evaluated by empirical correlations (f=Darcy friction factor), and the gravity force by an elevation change term ( is the angle w.r.t. the horizontal), k is related to the additional
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concentrated head losses (i.e. bends), Q is the heat transfer with the solid wall, D is the diameter of the pipe, A and L are respectively the section area and the length of the link between the two adjacent nodes. From the conservation Eq. (1,2,3), we have three equations for each phase (mass, momentum and energy conservation) and four unknowns: 1. density, or mass, V 2. velocity, v, or mass ow, m, or momentum, v, 3. energy, e, or enthalpy, h = e + P/, or temperature, T = fn(e) or fn(h), and 4. pressure, P. The fourth equation required for closure is the equation of state: P = fn(h,) or = fn(P,T) .

Figure 3. Node-link representation

The mass and energy Eq. (3) are averaged over the considered volume, without capturing any detail in the volume. Knowing the mass and energy of a volume, the equation of state gives the pressure. Flow, however, is driven by pressure dierences. Hence it naturally follows that the momentum equation should be applied between the points of known pressure, i.e., between volumes. In the distributed approach, this is called the staggered grid method. In the lumped approach, it is eventually called the node-link method and is illustrated in gure 3. Volumes are represented by nodes, ow paths are represented by links. Finally the heat diusion into solid is considered. The equation is approximated by electric analogy method: Ti = Gj1 Ti1 Gj Ti Q (4) t Where G are the conductances between adjacent nodes, C is the node capacitance and the heat transfer with the liquid side is calculated by: Ci Q = U Ah (Ts Tf ) (5)

where Ah is the contact area between uid (Tf) and solid node (Ts). The heat transfer coecient (U) for the laminar ow is obtained by setting the isothermal circular Nusselt number (Nu=3.66). For turbulent ow the common Dittus-Boelter correlation is used. In two-phase ows, the predicted heat transfer coecient for boiling is based on the single-phase Dittus-Boelter correlation for vapour using the current vapour mass fraction and void fraction. No distinction is imposed between nucleate and lm boiling. Shear-driven lm condensation within an externally cooled constant diameter tube can be considered as a form of lm condensation, hence this kind of process is considered to happen inside the LHP condenser. Vapour enters the tube at saturation conditions, condenses on the cooled wall, wets the surface, and originates an annular liquid lm. In particular the Shah correlation has been imposed in the model: N u = N ulo (1 x)0.8 + 3.8x0.76 (1 x)0.04 0.38 Pr Pr = P/PC
0.4 N ulo = 0.023Re0.8 P rl lo

(6)

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where PC is the critical pressure, Pr is the Prandlt number at bulk liquid temperature. A single heat sink temperature is describing the eect of the coolant inside the external coaxial tube. Such empirical correlation is oversimplied, but it provides a robust estimation and is valid also for the transition between the single phase and the two-phase mode. The counter-current heat exchanger at the condenser is linked to one single average coolant temperature represented by a single heat sink temperature, describing the eect of the coolant inside the external coaxial tube. Such consideration is oversimplied, but it should provide a robust estimation once the exchanged heat power is determined by the LHP uid mass ow rate and the latent heat at the given inlet pressure. The heat sink temperature will be in fact, together with the conductances between the LHP wall and the heat sinks itself, a sort of adjustable parameter in order to reach the right heat ux value, according to the Eq. 7: (Tf Tc,in ) (Tf Tc,out ) = ln [(Tf Tc,in )/(Tf Tc,out )] hc Ac,i (Tc Tw,i )
i

Qout = U Ah Tlm = U Ah Tlm = U Ah

(7)

where UA is the global heat exchange coecient, Tlm is the average logarithmic temperature, Tf is the hexane condensing temperature (Tsat), Tc is the coolant (inlet/outlet) temperature, hc is the coolant side convection coecient and Ac the coolant side area, Tc (Figure 5b) is an average heat sink temperature and Tw,i is the wall temperature at the i-node. III.B. Evaporator model

The evaporator and compensation chamber are critical components of the LHP and their design must be considered very carefully. The right sizing of the evaporator and compensation chamber and the uid inventory aects the overall heat conductance, the low power start-up, and other performance characteristics. For the present investigation, some approximation for the modelling was admitted. In the model, there has been established main functional mass-transfer couplings, which certainly have main impact on the LHP performance and behaviour. Secondary heat paths will be neglected and considered for future upgrades of the model. The implemented scheme in shown in the gure 4a. The uid contained in the evaporator is shared into 2 nodes: one that accounts for the two-phase reservoir, and one for the vapour in the grooves. To simulate the solid part two nodes are inserted: the reservoir wall and the evaporator wall.

(a) Evaporator scheme .

Figure 4.

(b) Elements of the LHP evaporator.

In normal LHP steady-state mode, heat is conducted from the evaporator body (evaporator wall) to evaporate the uid ( Qw ) or it is leaked by back-conduction (Qback ). The remaining part of the power arriving in the evaporator wall it is transferred to the solid nodes of the vapour line ( QV ), to superheat the vapour in the grooves (QG), and is exchanged with the reservoir by an axial conductance ( QER ). In the liquid control volume a heat ux is considered arriving from the liquid lines ( HRL ) and one heat ux
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is transferred to the vapour line ( HRV ). The delta pressure between the two-phase compensation chamber and the grooves is imposed equal to the capillary pressure: PC = 2/rc From the accumulated knowledge and performed researches up to know, goes into vaporizing liquid on the outer surface of the primary wick: m = Q/hf g
17

(8) majority of the heat input

(9)

A considerable amount of power is also transferred through the wick back to the compensation chamber. The ratio between those two heat links depends on the ratio between their conductances (UW b =UW /Gback ). The other heat patterns coming away from the evaporator wall transfer only a little portion of the overall power, hence this ratio assumes a crucial importance in the LHP working. Due to the complex physics present inside the evaporator the Uwb is dicult to estimate and most of the related studies are based on experimental data.18 Consequently the model has been run and analyzed in order to nd the UWb that best ts the experiments. In the scheme in Figure 4a the overall power (Qin) is input directly into the evaporator. In actual applications most of the times the evaporator is embedded for a part of its length inside a saddle that it is hence connected by screws to the hot spot to cool (Figure 5a).

(a) Evaporator pump assembly

Figure 5.

(b) Global LHP model

The physical coupling between the saddle and the evaporator is very important. In fact, a not uniform temperature distribution in the saddle leads to a not uniform heat ux from the saddle to the evaporator. The proper calculation of the heat uxes between these two elements is considerable during the transient mode of the LHP in order to accurately estimate critical phenomena as start-up, back conduction or vapor superheated. Because of its irregular geometry, the electrical analogy used to model the loop heat pipe is not suitable for the saddle modeling. For this reason the lumped parameter code developed for the Loop Heat Pipe has been then integrated in a nite volume open source CFD software (OpenFOAM) that it has been used to simulate the saddle temperature distribution. The contact surface between the evaporator and the saddle is created within the solid domain itself. This surface represents a data exchange interface where CFD software gets the information (temperature and heat ux values) from the lumped parameter code and viceversa. When time step starts, software calculates thermal distribution in the solid domain with external boundary conditions (on surface where there is not loop heat pipe) and reads heat uxes on contact surfaces. This information is a boundary condition for lumped parameter code that estimates the new temperature in the evaporator wall. This temperature is the new boundary condition for nitevolume code on contact surface and it re-estimates thermal distribution and heat uxes in the solid-domain. Convergence is guaranteed by an iterative cycle based on the energy conservation, in particular, based on the heat ux values exchanged by the two codes. When the value of heat ux is constant (within a given numerical tolerance) software goes on to next time step.

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IV.

Results and Discussions

The next paragraphs will show the results both for experimental tests and numerical model. The global model consists of 2 nodes in the vapor line, 3 in the condenser and 1 in the liquid line (Figure 5b). The model has been run under steady and transient mode. For the steady run a comparison with the experiment has been conducted. For transient the saddle has been considered and coupled as explained in the previous paragraph. IV.A. Experimental tests

In order to evaluate the thermal performance of the LHP with the innovative low-cost wick, rst series of tests have been performed with a horizontal conguration. A ramp-up test is performed in order to evaluate the maximum cooling capability of the LHP under steady state conditions (Figure 6a) . In such experimental tests, a power of 15 W has been rst applied for the start-up and then step-by-step, the heat load is increased with xed condenser cooling conditions (i.e. liquid coolant mass ow rate and inlet temperature). After the ramp-up, the electrical power is then reduced down to 15 W in order to detect the presence of possible hysteresis phenomena. Figure 6a gives the temperature prole of the LHPs major parts in the step-up and step-down tests. From Figure 6a LHP exchanges up to 72 W keeping the temperature of LHP evaporator heated wall below 100 C. Eventually such temperature is the maximum admissible temperature for the great majority of electronic components.

(a) Experimental steady-state performances of LHP, with hexane as a working uid at dierent heat loads (dash lines)

(b) Periodically steady operations with hexane as a working uid and Tcool = 18 0C

Figure 6.

Figure 6b show the temperature proles of the LHP in the power cycle experimental tests. This type of power loading sequence is very important to validate the capability of the LHP to handle the transient heat loads encountered during the continuous operation of the electronic device. It can be observed that for all the tested heat proles the LHP performed very eciently and with a very fast response to the input power steps. For each run, the steady state was achieved within short transient period of 1 to 2 minutes following the change in the input heat load. In the present tests, the loop did not showed any notable degradation in the thermal performance or indication of a Non-Condensable Gas (NCG) collection inside the compensation chamber or condenser. IV.B. Numerical results and comparison with the experiments

The following pictures show the numerical results and the comparison with experiments under steady mode for increasing heat loads in the evaporator node from 15W to 50.6W. The temperatures are tested in 5 points along the loop: in evaporator wall node (EVP), rst and second vapor line (VLINE 1, VLINE2), last condenser line (CLINE3) and liquid line node (LLINE1). The model results show good agreement with the experiment: with the exception of the LLINE node the temperature

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(a) Qin=15W

(b) Qin=30.6W

(c) Qin=40W

(d) Qin=50.6W

Figure 7. Comparison between the model and the experiments (EXP) for increasing heat loads in evaporator wall node (EVP), rst and second vapor line (VLINE 1, VLINE2), last condenser line (CLINE3) and liquid line node (LLINE1)

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error is within 3-4 degree. The most important failure of the present numerical test is the liquid line temperature. Its error is increasing while the power increases and reach up to 6-7 degree. The reason behind such inaccuracy is likely due to the compensation chamber modeling. The two phases in the real case are in fact not in thermodynamical equilibrium and may have dierent temperatures while the present model, considering only one node to simulate the compensation chamber, cannot capture this dierence. The resulting temperature for this node is higher than reality and so causing a heat ux back from the reservoir to the liquid line. In the following pictures (Figure 8, Figure 9) the transient run is shown. First of all, the lumped code has been compared with the experiments in the 5 points selected before. The power prole is supplied directly to the evaporator wall: {Q = 15; t = 0 Q = 30; t > 0} (10)

The graphic demonstrates that the temperature trend is well captured by the model except that in the last liquid nodes as already highlighted before. The same power prole has been then considered for the mixed numerical approach. The saddle, simulated by the nite volume code OpenFOAM, has been connected to the evaporator body modeled by the lumped code. The heat source has been applied to the at surface of the saddle and the resulting evaporator wall temperature is depicted in Figure 8b.

(a) Comparison between model and experiments in selected position: point are for model and lines are for experiments

(b) Evaporator wall temperature under transient mode

Figure 8. Transient run

After increasing the power an oscillation is present in the evaporator temperature (EVP). At t=0 the saddle temperature is higher than evaporator one, and consequently the heat ux towards the LHP raises the EVP. The increasing in the LHP temperature beyond the saddle one causes an adverse heat ux so decreasing the evaporator temperature. This phenomena is evident by watching at the saddle temperature (Figure 9): the temperature distribution during t=20s and t=30s causes a heat ux going out from the LHP to the saddle. The analysis conducted in this study has shown the capability of the mixed numerical approach. Nevertheless, it is important to note the limits due to the preliminary nature of the work. First of all, as previously noticed a more accurate modeling is needed for some crucial elements: in the compensation chamber in order to capture the non-homogeneity between the liquid and the vapour phase and the resultant heat and mass transfer between them; in the evaporator to proper couple it to the saddle. In fact, in this work the saddle covers completely the evaporator while in most of the applications it is located in a portion of the evaporator length. A not uniform heat uxes inside the evaporator may cause local dry-out and consequently the malfunctioning of the evaporator pump. Also the local information about temperatures and boiling processes is important to calculate the global back conduction. This accuracy in the analysis is possible only by a more detailed model supported by ad-hoc experiments.

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(a) t=0s

(b) t=10s

(c) t=20s

(d) t=30s

Figure 9. Saddle distribution temperatures during the transient mode

V.

CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, experimental and numerical investigations of a miniature loop heat pipe with an innovative wick and hexane as working uid has been conducted. The main outcomes of the study can be summarised as follows: A prototype of a loop heat pipe with innovative wick (designed and fabricated in Minsk) has beentested. The operability of the system was conrmed through experimental tests. The maximum heat load was up to 70W. It was found, that the innovative wick is neutral with hexane from the chemical point of view. No degradation of LHP operation conditions due to chemical reaction was noticed during experimental tests (approximately 40 hours of running), however longer term experiments are needed to validate the system completely. A novel numerical model has been developed using the usual electric analogy approach. The model is able to predict the LHP steady behaviour within a few degrees of accuracy. A further complex numerical approach has been proposed to couple the lumped model with any thermal model simulated by means of a distributed opensource code (OpenFOAM). This mixed method has interesting capabilities in simulating important phenomena as back conduction and evaporator dry-out. A more detailed lumped code for the evaporator and for the compensation chamber it is needed to take full advantage of these potentialities.

References
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3 Yu.F. Maydanik, Miniature loop heat pipes, Proc. 13th Int. Heat Pipe Conf. Shanghai, China, China Astronautic Publishing House, Beijing, 2004. 4 Leonid Vasiliev, David Lossouarn, Cyril Romestant, Alain Alexandre, Yves Bertin, Yauheni Piatsiushyk, Vladimir Romanenkov, Loop heat pipe for cooling of high-power electronic components, Int. J. of Heat and Mass Transfer 52 pp. 301-308, 2009 5 M.V. Kiseev, G.A. Belonogov and P.N. Pogorelov, Development of two-phase loops with capillary pumps, AICHE Symp. Ser. 91 (306), pp. 318?322, 1995 6 D. Mishkinis, L. Vasiliev, Heat pipe two-phase loop with capillary pump. The Update Journal of the Heat Exchanger Design Handbook , Begell House, 2004. 7 A.M. Delil, Yu.F. Maydanik, C. Gernard, Development of dierent novel loop heat pipes within the ISTC-1360 Project, SAE Paper No. 2003-01-2383, 2003. 8 J. Ku, H. Nagano, J. Perez, P. Rogers, Thermal performance of a low-cost Loop Heat Pipe, Annals of the Assembly for International Heat Transfer Conference, Begell House, 2006. 9 Leonid L Vasiliev, Jr., Advanced Loop Heat Pipe Evaporator with Ceramic Nanostructured Composite of Alumina, Alumina-Silica Oxide as a Wick Structure, SAE Technical Paper 2007-01-3192, 2007 10 H. Nagano, H. Nagai, F. Fukuyoshi, and H. Ogawa, Study of thermal performances of a small loop heat pipe, J. of Therm. Sciences, Vol. 3,N2, 2008 11 Leonid Vasiliev Jr., Marco Marengo, Claudio Ferrandi, Stefano Zinna, Viktor Maziuk. Advanced design of a low-cost loop heat pipe. 39h international conference on environmental systems, July 12-16, 2009.

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