• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1630-1637
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• 2002

A slab-wick heat pipe was fabricated and tested for applications where the condenser temperature is in a range of 80 to 12$0^{\circ}C$. The pipe material was 9.53 mm O.D. copper tube and the working fluids were ethanol and water. The total length of the heat pipe was 1.6 m, in which evaporator section was 1.4 m and the condenser was 0.10 m. The slab was a composite wick structure fabricated with STS316 wire screens. Thermal load was varied for a specified fill charge ratio and inclined angle. The optimum fill charge ratio was identified to be 110% based on a theoretical calculation of the pore space in the slab wick of the heat pipe. The maximum thermal load was 120W for ethanol and the same was 200W for water with the condenser temperature of 8$0^{\circ}C$. The thermal performance of the slab wick heat pipe is analysed in terms of temperature characteristics and thermal resistance against thermal load, tilt angle and fill charge ratio.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.18-25
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• 2002

For application to medium temperature solar collerctors $(80\sim120^{\circ}C)$, a heat pipe should be designed properly to efficiently transfer heat to a hotter condenser than common applications. Among many wick structure candidates for heat pipes of this type, a slab wick was selected based on promising performance data reported previously. The thermal performance of slab wick heat pipes, screen wick heat pipes and thermosyphons with enlarged condenser section were experimentally investigated for comparison purpose. The heat pipes were 8.0 mm O.D. (evaporator section) and 25.4 mm O.D. (condenser section) made of copper. The experimental data of the heat pipes were analysed in terms of thermal resistance against thermal load and coolant temperature.