• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
• /
• v.9 no.2 s.25
• /
• pp.127-135
• /
• 2006

Experimental studies of the cylindrical sintered-copper wick heat pipes were carried out to investigate the capillary heat transfer characteristics. Six models of the sintered-copper wick heat pipes were manufactured and tested to evaluate the heat transport limitations and the thermal characteristics. Also the performance of the heat pipes was analyzed theoretically and compared with the test results. The heat pipe models are divided into two sintered-wick groups and the nominal particle sizes are $180{\mu}m$(wick #1) and $200{\mu}m$(wick #2) respectively The experimental results showed that, the porosity of wick #1 was higher than that of wick #2, and also the wick #1 was generally superior than the wick #2 for the heat transport capability. The maximum heat transport rates were increased as the wick thicknesses and the vapor temperatures were increased.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.267-274
• /
• 2004

Theoretical analysis for predicting the heat transport limitations of screen mesh wick and sintered wick heat pipes was performed. The heat pipe diameter was 8mm and water was used for working fluid. For the 250 mesh, each capillary pressures and heat transport limitations, thermal resistances were analyzed according to the operating temperatures, wick thicknesses and inclination angles, based on the effective capillary radius (r$\_$c/), porosity ($\varepsilon$) and permeability (K). The wick capillary limitation was increased as the operating temperature and the wick thickness were increased, and generally the sintered wick showed higher heat transport limitations than that of the screen wick. The thermal resistance of the screen wick was higher than that of the sintered wick and both thermal resistances were linearly increased as the wick thickness was increased.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2004.04a
• /
• pp.1225-1230
• /
• 2004

In this paper, the pressure drops were investigated according to the sintered porous wick structure in loop heat pipe(LHP) by theoretical analysis. LHP has the wick only in evaporator for the circulation of working fluid, so utilizes porous wick structure which pore diameter is very small for large capillary force. This paper investigates the effects of different parameters on the pressure drops of the LHP such as particle diameter of sintered porous wick, wick porosity, vapor line diameter, thickness of wick and heating capacity. Working fluid is water and the material of sintered porous wick is copper. According to the these different parameters, capillary pressure, pressure drop in wick were analized by theoretical design method of LHP.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.36 no.9
• /
• pp.953-960
• /
• 2012

An AMTEC (alkali metal thermal electric converter) is a device that is used for the direct conversion of heat to electricity. Sodium is used as the working fluid, and its circulation is driven by a capillary wick. The wicks used for circulation include an evaporator wick, artery wick, and condenser wick, and each wick has a pressure drop because of the circulation of liquid and vapor. For the circulation of sodium, the capillary pressure of the evaporator wick must be greater than the total pressure drop in the wicks. In this study, the pressure drop in the evaporator wick, artery wick, and condenser wick and the heat loss from the evaporator to the condenser through the artery wick were analyzed for the design of a 100 W AMTEC prototype. It was found that a particle diameter of 10 ${\mu}m$ is suitable for the evaporator wick to maintain a capillary pressure greater than total pressure drop in the circulation loop.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2003

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the capillary heat transportation limitation in heat pipe according to the change of screen mesh wick porosity. Diameter of pipe was 6 mm, and mesh numbers are 100, 150, 200 and 250 and water was selected as a working fluid. According to the change of wick porosity and mesh number, the capillary pressure, pumping pressure, liquid friction coefficient in wick, vapor friction coefficient, and capillary heat transportation limitation are analyzed by theoretical design method of a heat pipe. As some results, the capillary heat transportation limitation in screen mesh wick heat pipe is largely affected by wick porosity and mesh number.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.16 no.12
• /
• pp.1107-1116
• /
• 2004

In this paper, the effects of diverse parameters on the operation of loop heat pipe (LHP), such as particle diameter of sintered porous wick, wick porosity, vapor line diameter, thickness of wick and heating capacity were investigated by a theoretical analysis. A LHP has a wick only in its evaporator for the circulation of working fluid, and utilizes a porous wick structure of which pore size is very small to obtain a large capillary force. The working fluid is water and the material of sintered porous wick is copper. For these different parameters, capillary pressure, pressure drop in wick, pressure drops and temperature distribution were analyzed by a theoretical design method of LHP.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2001.06d
• /
• pp.365-370
• /
• 2001

There are various wick types for heat pipe. In the present study, the manufacturing technology of a sintered wick among various wick types is discussed. The sintering technology using metal has been applied broadly in the field of electronic-telecommunication as well as heat pipes. A study of manufacturing procedure and characteristic of sintered wick for heat pipe have been performed. Copper powder was used as wick material and stainless steel as a mandrel. A manufacturing technology of the mandrel for arranging vapor core in heat pipe, a sintering technology by first or second times and operating temperature for sintering, the measurements of a porosity, pore size, and pore distribution of sintered wick were considered. In the meantime, a heat pipe with sintered wick has been manufactured and a performance test of the heat pipe has been performed in order to review cooling performance. The performance test results for the 4mm diameter heat pipe with the sintered wick shows the stability since the temperature difference between a evaporator and a condenser of the heat pipe is less than $4.4^{\circ}C$, and thermal resistance is less than $0.7^{\circ}C/W$.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2007.05b
• /
• pp.2136-2141
• /
• 2007

The Loop Heat Pipe(LHP) system uses capillary forces so as to pump the working fluid from heat acquisition to heat rejecting systems. The performance of the LHP systems depends mainly upon the operating performance of the wick structure. The capillary pressure increases with decreasing the pore size of the wick structure. By the way, the wick structure's permeability decreases with decreasing the pore size and the porosity. To obtain an ideal wick, the wick structure should possess several characteristics such as the small pore size, high porosity and chemical compatibility with working fluid. Sintered metal wicks have been mainly used as the capillary wick structure mounted in LHP because of the fact that the sintered metal wick has some advantages like convenient selection of wick material, smaller pore size and so on as well as high reliability. In this study, sintered metal wicks were developed to meet required several parameters to design the high performance LHP systems for obtaining even more effective cooling technologies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bio-Environment Control Conference
• /
• 2001.04b
• /
• pp.41-42
• /
• 2001

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of the physical properties of wick on the water absorption of substrate. Physical properties of wick in this study were cotton composition, width and length. The water Infiltration rate through the wick was 0.24 ㎝/s at 90 -95% cotton content, which was faster than at 80-85% (0.13 cm/s) and 70-75% (0.08 cm/s). As the cotton content increased, the water absorption of substrate became greater : the amount of absorbed water was about 5-7g higher at 90-95% than at 80-85% and 70-75% at a wick width of 1 ㎝, the velocity of water absorption through the wick was fastest with 0.25 ㎝ㆍs/sup -1/. The amount of absorbed water was higher at 3 ㎝ than at 1 and 2 ㎝. However, the water absorption rate through the cross - sectional area of wick (g H₂O /㎠/hr) was higher at a wick width of 2 ㎝ than at those of 1 and 3 ㎝. The amount of absorbed water in the substrate was higher at 2 : 1 than at 1 : 1 (length in substrate : length out of substrate). Absorbed water amount was larger at 30-40% initial moisture content than any other treatment.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.26 no.9
• /
• pp.1260-1266
• /
• 2002

In this study, to make an excellent heat pipe, the manufacturing technology of a sintered wick was investigated. Making a sintered wick is known to be very difficult but it has many advantages. For example, the porosity and pore size can be controlled and the capillary force is great. The mixture of copper and pore former powder was used as a wick material and ceramic-coated stainless steel was used as a mandrel which is necessary for vapor flow. To analyze the feature of the manufactured wick, not only porosity and pore size were measured but also the sintered structure was observed. A heat pipe with sintered wick was manufactured and the performance test of the heat pipe was performed in order to review cooling performance. The performance test results for the 4mm diameter heat pipe with the sintered wick shows the stability since the temperature difference between a evaporator and a condenser of the heat pipe is less than 4.4$^{\circ}C$, and thermal resistance is less than 0.7$^{\circ}C$/W, In the meantime the composite wick that is composed with sintered and woven wire was also examined. The heat transfer limit of the heat pipe with composite wick was enhanced about 51%~60% compare to the one with sintered wick.