• 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.