Numerical analysis of a plain-fin type heat exchanger with two tubes in a crevice-type heat pipe

This paper employs numerical tools to obtain an optimal thermal design of a heat exchanger with plain-fins. This heat exchanger is located at the condensing section of a crevice-type heat pipe. The plain-fins in the heat exchanger are radically mounted to two tubes in the condensing section. To obtain the optimal design parameters, a computational fluid dynamics technique is introduced and applied to different placement configurations in a system module. Owing to its effects on the heat pipe performance, the temperature difference between the tube surfaces and ambient air is investigated in detail. A greater heat dissipation rate occurs when the plain-fin offsets change from 2 to 3 mm. When this temperature difference is ${\Delta}T=70^{\circ}C$, the upper part of the plain-fins undergoes an accumulation of heat. At below $70^{\circ}C$, the dissipation of heat is accepted. A rectangular plain-fin geometry with varying widths and heights does not have a significant impact on the heat dissipation through-out the overall system. In addition, the temperature distributions between different plain-fin pitches show an equal profile even with different fin pitches.