Prediction of Life of Heat Pipes by Measuring Temperature Distribution

온도측정에 의한 히트파이프의 수명예측

The thermal performance degradation of heat pipes is caused by the non-condensable gas generation mainly due to the electrochemical corrosion which results from the reaction of working fluids with tube materials. In this study, a simplified method described below was proposed to estimate the life of heat pipes concerning the non-condensable gas generation. The temperature distributions at the outer surface of heat pipes was measured, and based on them the amount of non-condensable gas of hydrogen was estimated. Applying it to the Arrhenius model, the mass generation of hydrogen and the volume occupied by the gas In heat pipes could be estimated for an operating temperature and time. Moreover, this simplified method was applied to the accelerated life test of nine methanol-stainless steel heat pipe samples.