Heat Transfer Characteristics of Oscillating Heat Pipe With Water and Ethanol as Working Fluids

2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haizhen Xian ◽  
Yongping Yang ◽  
Dengying Liu ◽  
Xiaoze Du

In this paper, experiments were conducted to achieve a better understanding of the oscillating heat pipe (OHP) operating behavior with water and ethanol as working fluid. The experimental results showed that there existed a necessary temperature difference between the evaporator and the condenser section to keep the heat pipe working. The maximum effective conductivity of the water OHP reached up to 259 kW/m K, while that of the ethanol OHP is of 111 kW/m K. Not all the OHPs are operated in the horizontal operation mode. The heat transfer performance of the ethanol OHP was obviously affected by the filling ratio and the inclination angle but the influence law is irregular. The effect of the filling ratio and the inclination angle of the water OHP were smaller than that of the ethanol one. The heat transfer performance of the OHP was improved with increase of operating temperature. The startup characteristics of the OHP depended on the establishment of the integral oscillating process, which was determined by the operating factors. The startup temperature of the ethanol OHP varied from 40°C to 50°C and that of the water, OHP varied from 40°C to 60°C without considering the horizontal operating mode. The water OHP showed a better performance and more stable heat transfer characteristics than the ethanol OHP, which had no obvious advantages of the startup capability as well.

Author(s):  
Lilin Chu ◽  
Yulong Ji ◽  
Chunrong Yu ◽  
Yantao Li ◽  
Hongbin Ma ◽  
...  

Abstract In order to understand the heat transfer performance, startup and fluid flow condition of oscillating heat pipe (OHP) with hydraulic diameter far exceeding the maximum hydraulic diameter (MHD), an experimental investigation on heat transfer performance and visualization was conducted. From the experimental performance, it is found that the OHP can still work well with ethanol as the working fluid when the tube diameter has exceeded the MHD of 91.6%. In addition, the detailed flow patterns of the OHP were recorded by a highspeed camera for vertical and horizontal orientation to understand its physical mechanism. In the vertical orientation, initially working fluid generates small bubbles, and then the small bubbles coalesce and grow to vapor plugs, the vapor plugs finally pushes the liquid slugs to oscillate in the tube. In the horizontal orientation, the working fluid surface fluctuates due to the vapors flow from the evaporator to the condenser and bubbles burst in the evaporator. When the peak of liquid wave reaches the upper surface of tube, a liquid slug has been formed, and then the steam flow pushes the liquid slugs to oscillate in the tube.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Hao ◽  
Hongbin Ma ◽  
Xuehu Ma

A new oscillating heat pipe (OHP) charged with hybrid fluids can improve thermal performance. The key difference in this OHP is that it uses room temperature liquid metal (Galinstan consisting of gallium, indium, and tin) and water as the working fluid. The OHP was fabricated on a copper plate with six turns and a 3 × 3 mm2 cross section. The OHP with hybrid fluids as the working fluid was investigated through visual observation and thermal measurement. Liquid metal was successfully driven to flow through the OHP by the pressure difference between the evaporator and the condenser without external force. Experimental results show that while added liquid metal can increase the heat transport capability, liquid metal oscillation amplitude decreases as the filling ratio of liquid metal increases. Visualization of experimental results show that liquid metal oscillation position and velocity increase as the heat input increases. Oscillating motion of liquid metal in the OHP significantly increases the heat transfer performance at high heat input. The lowest thermal resistance of 0.076 °C/W was achieved in the hybrid fluids-filled OHP with a heat input of 420 W. We experimentally demonstrated a 13% higher heat transfer performance using liquid metal as the working fluid compared to an OHP charged with pure water.


Author(s):  
Haizhen Xian ◽  
Dengying Liu ◽  
Yongping Yang ◽  
Xiaoze Du

In this paper, experimental investigations on the heat transfer characteristics of OHP with ethanol as working fluid were conducted. The experimental results show that there exists a necessary temperature difference between evaporator and condenser section to keep the heat pipe working. The minimum temperature differences for the optimal operating conditions varied from 1.5 to 2.0°C. The maximum effective conductivity achieved could reach up to 111kW/m•°C. The heat pipe was obviously affected by the filling ratio in some cases but the influence law is irregular and related to inclination angles and heating temperatures. Not all OHPs operated well in the limiting case of a zero inclination angle. In most cases, the optimal value of the inclination angle went up when the heating temperature increased. An appropriate high heating temperature is helpful for the OHP to achieved excellent performances. The startup temperature varied from 40°C to 50°C without considering the horizontal heating mode.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12481
Author(s):  
Jiwen Cen ◽  
Feng Li ◽  
Tingliang Li ◽  
Wenbo Huang ◽  
Juanwen Chen ◽  
...  

The installation and operation of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) involves many challenges. These challenges include the high cost and high risk associated with the investment capital, potential large working-fluid leakage, corrosion of equipment, and subsiding land. A super-long heat pipe can be used for geothermal exploitation to avoid these problems. In this paper, a high aspect-ratio heat pipe (30 m long, 17 mm in inner diameter) is installed vertically. Experiments are then carried out to study its heat-transfer performance and characteristics using several filling ratios of deionized water, different heating powers, and various cooling-water flowrates. The results show that the optimal filling-ratio is about 40% of the volume of the vaporizing section of the heat pipe. Compared with a conventional short heat pipe, the extra-long heat pipe experiences significant thermal vibration. The oscillation frequency depends on the heating power and working-fluid filling ratio. With increasing cooling-water flow rate, the heat-transfer rate of the heat pipe increases before it reaches a plateau. In addition, we investigate the heat-transfer performance of the heat pipe for an extreme working-fluid filling ratio; the results indicate that the lower part of the heat pipe is filled with vapor, which reduces the heat-transfer to the top part. Based on the experimental data, guidelines for designing a heat pipe that can be really used for the exploitation of earth-deep geothermal energy are analyzed.


Author(s):  
Yulong Ji ◽  
Chao Chang ◽  
Gen Li ◽  
Hongbin Ma ◽  
Yuqing Sun

This research represents an experimental investigation on the operating limitation of an oscillating heat pipe (OHP). The OHP has six turns and three sections: evaporator, condenser and adiabatic sections with lengths of 40 mm, 64 mm and 51 mm, respectively. Water or a mixture of water and alumina (Al2O3) making up a nanofluid served as the working fluid. Filling ratios ranging from 30% to 70%, and tilt angles (orientation) ranging from 0° to 90° were studied. The experimental results showed (1) the water/Al2O3 nanofluid can enhance the OHP heat transfer performance, i.e., the highest input power (operating limitation) increased when the OHP was charged with water/Al2O3 nanofluid; (2) the operating limitation increased as the filling ratio increased from 30% to 70%, but the optimum filling ratio of the OHP is 30% or 50% when the working power is lower or higher; and (3) the thermal resistance of the OHP decreased as the tilt angle increased, and the operating limitation increased as the tilt angle increased.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulong Ji ◽  
Chen Xu ◽  
Hongbin Ma ◽  
Pan Xinxiang

This paper presents an experimental investigation of whether heat transfer performance in an oscillating heat pipe (OHP) would improve if the inner surface of the heat pipe was coated with a layer of copper oxide (CuO). The OHP had six turns and three sections, i.e., evaporator, condenser, and adiabatic section with lengths of 40 mm, 64 mm, and 51 mm, respectively. The cleaned copper tubing was chemically treated with a chemical solution and heated in a furnace. A microstructure layer of CuO was formed in the inner surface of the OHP with K2S2O8 and KOH. The working fluid in this study was water with filling ratios ranging from 40% to 70%. The experimental results show that the CuO microstructure layer is superhydrophilic and can enhance the OHP heat transfer performance. The investigation results in a new way to enhance the heat transfer performance of an OHP.


2011 ◽  
Vol 236-238 ◽  
pp. 689-693
Author(s):  
Xiao Lin Cao ◽  
Shuang Jun Cao ◽  
Xiao Jun Zhu ◽  
Wei Zeng ◽  
Fang Fang Wang ◽  
...  

A novel gravity-assisted heat pipe with fins was developed. The influences of filling ratio, inclination angle and air velocity at condenser section on the heat transfer characteristics were investigated experimentally. The results show that heat power has an important effect on heat transfer characteristics while inclination angle has little effect on that. The minimum heat transfer resistance is got at the filling ratio equaling about 20%. The heat transfer thermal resistance decreases gradually as the air velocity at condenser section increases.


Author(s):  
Yulong Ji ◽  
Chen Xu ◽  
Hongbin Ma

An experimental investigation of an oscillating heat pipe (OHP) with an inner surface coated with a copper oxide (CuO) layer was conducted. The OHP has six turns and three sections: evaporator, condenser and adiabatic section with the lengths of 40 mm, 64 mm and 51 mm, respectively. The cleaned copper tubing was chemically treated with a chemical solution and heated in a furnace. A layer of CuO was formed in the inner surface of the OHP. A working fluid (water in this study) at filling ratios ranging from 40% to 70% was studied. The experimental results show that the CuO layer can enhance the heat transfer performance of the OHP. The investigation results in a new way to enhance the heat transfer performance of an OHP.


Author(s):  
Tingting Hao ◽  
Hongbin Ma ◽  
Xuehu Ma

This paper presents an investigation of a three-phase oscillating heat pipe (3P OHP). The working fluid in the OHP consists of phase change material (PCM) and water. During the operation, the PCM changes the phase between solid and liquid, and water changes phase between liquid and vapor. The OHP investigated herein contains three phases: solid, liquid, and vapor. Erythritol was selected as the PCM with an instant cooling effect when dissolved in water due to the high fusion heat of 340 J/g. When the working fluid flows into the evaporator section, the PCM solid phase of the working fluid can become liquid phase in the evaporator, and the PCM liquid phase of the working fluid become solid phase in the condenser. The effects of heat input ranging from 100 to 420 W, and the erythritol concentration ranging from 1 to 50 wt % on the slug oscillations, and the OHP thermal performance was investigated. Experimental results show that while the erythritol can help to increase the heat transfer performance of an OHP, the heat transfer performance depends on the erythritol concentration. With a range of 1–5 wt % concentration of erythritol/water mixtures, a maximum 10% increase in the thermal performance was observed. When the erythritol concentration of erythritol/water mixtures was increased to a range of 10–50 wt %, the thermal performance of OHPs was lower than pure water-filled OHP, and the thermal performance decreased as the erythritol concentration was further increased. In addition, visualization results showed that slug oscillation amplitudes and velocities were reduced in the OHPs with erythritol solution compared with water-filled OHP.


Author(s):  
Mengke Wu ◽  
Yulong Ji ◽  
Yanmin Feng ◽  
Xin Yang ◽  
Yadong Li ◽  
...  

Abstract The liquid metal high-temperature oscillating heat pipe (LMHOHP) is a kind of high efficiency heat transfer device, which can function in high-temperature environments above 500°C. In this paper, the effects of inclination angle on the startup and heat transfer performance of a LMHOHP were investigated experimentally. The sodium-potassium alloy (potassium 78%) was used as the working fluid of the LMHOHP and the filling ratio was 50%. The start-up characteristics and heat transfer performance of the LMHOHP at four inclination angles of 0°, 30°, 60° and 90° were tested when the operating temperatures were 150°C and 400°C, respectively. Experimental results show that (1) The LMHOHP can start-up and function at all the tested inclination angles, the maximum temperatures of the evaporator and condenser can exceed 1000°C and 700°C, respectively. (2) The thermal resistance of the LMHOHP decreases with inclination angle increases, the thermal resistance at the inclination angle of 90° decreases by up to 32.9%, 41.6% and 55.9% compared with that at the inclination angle of 60°, 30° and 0°, respectively. (3) When the input power exceeds 3000W, the flow patterns of LMHOHP at the inclination angle of 90°, 60° and 30° can be changed from the oscillating motion to the unidirectional circulating flow. (4) Compared with the operating temperature of 150°C, the heat transfer performance of the LMHOHP improves at the operating temperature of 400°C, at the input power of 3457W and the inclination angle of 90°, the minimum thermal resistance of LMHOHP is 0.075°C/W. The results shown that the LMHOHP has a good adaptability to working conditions which further extends the application range of oscillating heat pipe.


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