DEVELOPMENT OF CLOSED LOOP PULSATING HEAT PIPES FOR

APPLICATION AT ELEVATED EVAPORATOR TEMPERATURE

Synopsis presentation
by
Himanshu Poonia1

Under the Supervision

of
Prof. Prasanta Kumar Das1
Prof. Arup Kumar Das2

1Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur 2Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Kharagpur, India Roorkee, India

1
 Heat Pipe

• Conventional heat pipes were invented around 1960 by Gaugler [1942] and Groover [1963]
• Heat Pipes are sealed Two-phase Heat Transfer Device.

Depending on method of condensate return, different types of heat pipes are:

Forces Heat Pipe

Gravity Thermal Syphon
Capillary Force Standard Heat Pipe
Centripetal Force Rotating Heat Pipe
Electro kinetic Force Electro hydrodynamic Heat
Pipe
Magnetic Forces Magnetic hydrodynamic
Heat Pipe
Osmotic Forces Osmotic Heat Pipe

2
 Family of Heat Pipe

Family tree of close passive two-phase systems shown by Khandekar [2004]

3
 Pulsating Heat Pipe (PHP)

• Meandering tube of capillary diameter bent in

serpentine manner
• Sealed at both ends to form open loop or formed
in a closed loop
• Tubes are evacuated and thereafter partially
charged with the fluid

Closed End Open Closed Loop PHP Closed Loop PHP with
Loop PHP Check Valve

Principles of Operation of PHP

• Thermodynamic Principle:
Heat Addition, Rejection

• Fluid Dynamics Principle:

Two Phase flow, Surface tension

• Heat Transfer Principles:

Transfer from the wall to liquid slug, vapor plugs, boiling,
condensation, Phase change heat transfer in thin liquid film

4
 Important Parameters in PHP design

Design Parameters

➢ PHP configuration Eötvös number = Ratio of gravitational force to surface tension force.
➢ Diameter
➢ Working fluid properties:
• Surface Tension Eo = Bo
2
= ( Eo )crit =
( liq −  vap ) gDcrit
2
4
• Latent Heat 
• Specific Heat
• Viscosity
• Pressure gradient
• Thermal Conductivity
Dcrit = 5.4 mm (water),
➢ Number of turns
➢ Size and capacity of the Evaporator and the condenser

Operating Parameters

➢ Heating power
➢ Filling ratio
➢ Inclination angle

5
 Literature Survey

Filling
D Working Tube Orientation Cross-
Investigators Type N Ratio q(w) Outcome
(mm) Fluid Material Angle (o) section
(Vol %)
Water,
If number of turns greater than
Methanol,
Akachi et al. Copper. 80-
R113, 152,
[1996] - 0.7, 1.2 SS steel -90 to 90 Circular 50 - Orientation independent
R142b. 500
Al operation is possible and thermal
Liquid N2.
resistance is independent of q.
R142.
Maezawa et al. Bottom heat mode orientation is
R142b, 0-
[1996] OLPHP 1, 2 Copper 0,90,-90 40 Circular 50 best and top heat mode showed
Water 1400
poor performance.
Water,
Cai et al. Fluid with low latent heat is
CLPHP Acetone, Quartz,
[2006] 2.4,2.2 45,0 6, 25 Circular 50-60 0-600 prescribed to sustain oscillatory
OLPHP Ethanol, Copper
motion.
Amonia
Optimum charge ratio is in
Water,
Khandekar and between 25% to 65% depending
CLPHP 2 Ethanol, Copper 0,90 5 Circular 0-100 0-70
Groll [2006] on fluid. In horizontal mode PHP
R123
does not operate for all fluid.
A certain critical number of turns
Water, are required for horizontal
Charoensawan 5,7,11, 200-
CLPHP 2,1 Ethanol, Copper 0,90 Circular 50 operation. With increasing no. of
et al. [2003] 16,23 1100
R123 turns and diameter performance
improves.

6
 Motivation of work
• BARC
Fluids tested in Heat Pipe and Operating temperature ranges
Fluids tested in PHP and their Boiling point
on a logarithmic temperature scale.

Fluids Boiling Point (°C) (STP)

FC-75 102
Water 100
Ethanol 78
Methanol 64.7
HFE-7100 61
Acetone 56
FC-72 56
R-113 48
N-pentane 36
R-141b 32
R-123 27.6
R-245fa 15
Ammonia -3.34
R-142, R-142b -10
Nitrogen -195.8
Neon -246.08
Hydrogen -252.08
Helium -268.93 7
 Objectives of work

Increase the temperature range of the PHP keeping its potential

application in the field of nuclear engineering

Establish the effect of orientation for rotation of loop under two

mutually orthogonal axes

Operation of the PHP for multiple turns and aim for orientation
independent performance

8
 Preliminary Investigation -Feasibility Test for fluids
Feasibility test -:
• Fluid behavior is visualized in PHP made up of Quartz tube
• Fluid behavior is analyzed from temperature measurement taken in PHP made of Copper tube
• Fluid is analyzed over important dimensionless numbers to PHP

Fluids tested -
• High temperature heat transfer fluids are selected - KoolGard, Olive oil, Therminol-66 and Dowtherm-A
• Reference fluids – Water and Ethanol

• Two identical two-turn CLPHP set-up was made from Copper and Quartz 3 mm (ID) and 5mm (OD)
• Thermocouples are attached at the copper PHP and quartz PHP is photographed using high speed camera

9
Schematic of CLPHP (Dimensions in mm) Photograph of CLPHP (Quartz)
 Experimental Facility and Procedure

Experimental Procedure

➢Fabrication of the PHP

➢Development of the facility

➢Initial testing

➢Vacuum of the PHP

➢Charging of the PHP

➢Heat input and cooling

➢Temperature measurement or Photograph

➢Discharging of fluid

Operational Parameters

➢Heat input is varied and Heat sink is at

constant temperature

➢Filling Ratio is kept constant (60%)

➢Inclination is kept constant (90)

10
Schematic and photograph of the Experimental Facility
 Results - Visualization

Oilve oil KoolGard

Heat Input = 0-150W Heat Input = 0-150W

Therminol-66 Dowtherm-A
Water FT = 50-500 °C
FT = 50-500 °C
Heat Input = 0-150W

Observations:
➢ Stable initial distribution of liquid slug and vapor plug is observed after charging of fluid for all the tested fluids.

➢ Proper characteristic operation depicting the slug-plug flow, transition to annular flow and annular flow is observed for fluid water.

➢ With fluid olive oil, dominance of slug plug flow is observed. Formation of small bubbles is also observed. Slow movement of fluid is observed.

➢ With fluid KoolGard, stable operation is observed. Slug-plug flow and annular flow is observed over the operated conditions.

➢ With fluid Therminol-66, stable operation depicting the flow regimes – bubbly , slug-plug, transition to annular and annular flow is observed.

➢ With fluid Dowtherm-A, stable characteristic operation is observed. Oscillations and bulk flow circulation is observed. Flow regimes – slug-plug,
transition to annular and annular are captured. 11
 Results – Temperature measurements
Water Ethanol KoolGard

Therminol-66 Dowtherm-A
Olive oil

Observations:
➢ With water and ethanol start-up temperature are observed to be 56°C and 76°C respectively. Poper start-up and stable operation is observed.

➢ For fluids Dowtherm-A, Olive oil, KoolGard and Therminol-66 relatively high start-up temperatures 176°C, 180°C, 120°C and 260°C are observed.

➢ Proper and stable operation is observed for fluids KoolGard, Oilve oil and Dowtherm-A,.
12
➢ Fluid Therminol-66 is observed unsuitable to PHP, as disintegration of the fluid is observed at high temperature.
 Results –Dimensionless analysis
Heat flux in a PHP depends on large number of parameters: Theoretical values of dimensionless numbers are
Q = f(ΔT, g, h, K, ρ(v), ρ(l)-ρ(v), C(p), σ, µ, D, L) calculated over the saturated conditions prevailing
for the fluids inside the PHP
Using Buckingham’s theorem, various π terms are Water – 30-110°C, Ethanol – 30-90°C,
find out and their combination gives important Dowtherm-A – 50-300°C
Dimensionless numbers

Observations
➢Bo , ratio of gravitational to capillary force, is a design parameter to the PHP.
➢Ja is the ratio of latent to sensible heat transfer. For a fluid with low Ja, will have
evaporation more quickly generating small bubbles even at small quantity of heat thus
providing the pumping action required for transporting the fluid.
➢Pr is the ratio of momentum diffusivity to thermal diffusivity. A large value specific
heat would carry large heat, also large value of viscosity would take large time to
cross a particular section and thus provide sufficient time for heat transfer.
➢Ku represents the ratio between the heat flux and the critical heat flux. High value
of Ku indicates the operation near the critical limit.
13
 Important findings

➢Visual observation shows fluids behaved differently during operation, which in fact is
due to the dependence of PHP on thermo-physical properties

➢The start of heat transfer of fluids – Dowtherm-A, Olive oil, KoolGard, Therminol-66 is
observed at high temperature 176°C, 180°C, 120°C and 260°C respectively; compared to
fluids water and ethanol, which are found to start heat transfer at 56°C and 76°C
respectively.

➢Fluid Therminol-66 is observed unsuitable to PHP operation, as disintegration of the

fluid is observed at high temperature.

➢Observing the stable high temperature operation of the PHP with fluid dowtherm-A, the
fluid is considered to study in detail over the major operational parameters of the PHP.

14
 Thermal hydraulics of a three-turn CLPHP with water and dowtherm-A

Fabrication of the PHP

• Three- turn CLPHP set-up was made from 2 mm (ID) and 6 mm (OD) copper tube considering the design criteria (Bo)
• Division of the three sections considering literature survey and operational conditions
• Brazing of thermocouples

Development of the experimental facility

• Specially designed Furnace is used as a heat source and reaches up to a temperature of 1000 ºC
• Cooling bath provide coolant at constant flow rate and constant temperature
• Vacuum Pump, Compressor, Data acquisition system

Photograph of Photograph of the Experimental Facility 15

Schematic of CLPHP (Dimensions in mm) CLPHP (Copper)
 Range of operating parameters

Parametric Variation
θ β
Working Fluid Filling Ratio Inclination (°) Furnace Condenser
(%) Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)
Water 40, 50, 60 θ = 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 100, 150, 200, 250 20 Z X
β = 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90
Dowtherm-A 50, 60, 70, 80 θ = 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 200, 300, 400, 500 20
β = 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90

Data reduction

Q = ρ C(p) ΔT R = T(E, Avg) – T (C, Avg)/ Q

ΔT = T(cond, out) – T(cond, in) 16

 Results- Water (3-turn CLPHP)

Effect of Heat input – fluid flow behavior FR 50%, 75° inclination

Observations
• PHP starts operation when FT 100°C
• At FT 100°C high amplitude, low frequency
oscillations are observed. At this condition,
rare exchange of fluid among the adjacent
channels is depicted by signals of adiabatic
channels

Observations
• With increase in heat input increase in frequency of oscillations is observed. At FT 150°C, stable self
sustained oscillatory flow behavior is observed.
• Further, at high heat input (FT 200-250°C) dominance of bulk circulation is observed with local oscillatory
17
flow.
 Results- Water (3-turn CLPHP)

Effect of Heat input – frequency and amplitude of oscillations

FR 50%, 75° inclination
Fast Fourier Transform of signals from evaporator section

FT 100°C FT 150°C
5 5

4 4

Amplitude

Amplitude
3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Frequency Frequency

FT 200°C FT 250°C
5 5
Observations
• At FT 100°C high amplitude, low frequency 4 4
Amplitude

Amplitude
oscillations are observed. 3 3

• With increase in heat input, increase in 2 2

frequency of oscillations is observed and
1 1
decrease in amplitude of oscillations is
observed. 0 0
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Frequency Frequency

18
 Results- Water (3-turn CLPHP)

Effect of Heat input – heat transfer characteristics

FR 50%, 75° inclination

Observations
• With increase in heat input increase in heat
transfer is observed.
• At FT 250°C, heat transfer rate of 160 W is
observed.

Observations
• With increase in heat input decrease in
thermal resistance is observed.
• At FT 250°C, a low thermal resistance of
0.18 °C/W is offered by the device. 19
 Results- Water (3-turn CLPHP)

Effect of Filling ratio – fluid flow behavior

FR – 40%, 90° FR – 50%, 90° FR – 60%, 90°

Observations
• For the three filling ratios, proper operation of the PHP is observed.
• For FR 40%, during start-up (FT 100°C) low frequency large amplitude oscillations are observed. With increase in
heat input stable operation with dominance of oscillatory flow is observed.
• With increase in filling ratio (FR 50%), decrease in amplitude of oscillations is observed during start-up at FT
100°C. With increase in heat input oscillatory flow is observed. At high heat input (FT 250°C) tendency to bulk
flow circulation is seen.
• At FR 60% stable start-up is observed. Low amplitude and high frequency oscillations are observed at the
evaporator section. With increase in heat input oscillatory and circulatory flow behavior is observed. At high heat
input dominance of bulk flow circulation is observed.

20
 Results- Water (3-turn CLPHP)

Effect of Filling ratio – heat transfer characteristics

Plot of thermal resistance for three filling ratio at different heat input at 90 ° inclinations

Observations
• When FT 100 °C, high thermal resistances are observed as the developed pressure differential between the
evaporator and the condenser section is low for transporting the fluid across the two end section.
• For FT 150-250 °C, low thermal resistance are observed for the three filling ratios.
• With increase in heat input decrease in thermal resistance is observed
• FR 40% is observed to offer least thermal resistance 0.18 °C/W at 250 °C.

21
 Results- Water (3-turn CLPHP)
Effect of Inclination – fluid flow behavior
FR 50% 0° 30 ° 60 °

0° 30 ° 60 °

• At 0° inclination, operation of the PHP is not observed. With increase in inclination, as gravitational assistance comes
in, PHP starts its operation. At low inclinations (30°) proper start-up and operation at low heat input is observed, yet at
high heat input performance is observed to degrade. For 45° - 90° inclination proper start-up and stable operation for all
the heat input is observed.
• For β variation, improvement in performance compared to θ variation is observed due to increase in gravitational
22
assistance. Also unidirectional flow inline with geometry is depicted by the device for β variation.
 Results- Water (3-turn CLPHP)
Effect of Inclination – heat transfer characteristics
FR 40% FR 50% FR 60%

FR 40% FR 50% FR 60%

Observations
• For the three fill ratio, for both variation decrease in thermal resistance with increase in heat input is observed.
• For β variation, early start-up for lower inclination is observed compared to θ variation.
• For β variation, improvement in performance compared to θ variation is observed for all inclinations due to increase
in gravitational assistance. 23
 Results- Water (3-turn CLPHP)

Dry out phenomenon

FR 40%, 90° FR 50%, 90° FR 60%, 90°

Observations
• For FR 40%, 90° inclinations, when FT crosses 350 °C, a sudden increase in evaporator temperature is seen and the
two consecutive adiabatic channels attain similar constant temperature. This indicates dry out of evaporator and
stop over of flow movement.
• For FR 50%, 90° inclinations, this behavior is observed when FT crosses 370 °C.
• For FR 60%, 90° inclinations, this limit of dry out is further pushed to 400 °C.
• This behavior could be attributed to increase in fluid inventory inside the system and thus the availability to the
evaporator section.

24
 Results- Dowtherm-A (3-turn CLPHP)
Effect of Heat input – fluid flow behavior
FR 70%, 75° inclinations

Observations
• PHP does not starts operation when FT 200 °C
• At FT 300°C, PHP starts its operation. With few initial
oscillations, fluid flow behavior takes bulk flow
circulation.
• With increase in heat input (FT 400-500°C), slight increase
in evaporator temperature is observed. The attained
behavior of bulk flow circulation is maintained. No flow
reversal is observed.

25
 Results- Dowtherm-A (3-turn CLPHP)

Effect of Heat input – heat transfer characteristics

FR 70%, 75° inclinations
Observations
• With increase in heat input increase in heat
transfer is observed.
• At FT 500°C, heat transfer rate of 830W is
observed.

Observations
• With increase in heat input decrease in
thermal resistance is observed.
• At FT 500°C, a low thermal resistance of
0.21°C/W is offered by the device.

26
 Results- Dowtherm-A (3-turn CLPHP)

Effect of Filling ratio – fluid flow behavior

FR 50%, 90° inclinations FR 60%, 90° inclinations FR 70%, 90° inclinations

FR 80%, 90° inclinations

Observations
• For FR 50%, no operation of the PHP is observed.
• For FR 60% and 70%, stable operation is observed. The fluid flow
behavior attains bulk flow circulation during start-up. With
increase in heat input attained behavior is maintained. With
increase in heat input decrease in amplitude of oscillations is
observed.
• At FR 80%, stable start-up is observed. At FT 200°C, start up is
observed as the adjacent adiabatic channels indicate temperature
differential.

27
 Results- Dowtherm-A (3-turn CLPHP)
Effect of Filling ratio – heat transfer characteristics
Plot of thermal resistance for four filling ratio at different heat input at 90° inclinations

Observations
• For FR 50%, no operation is observed, thus high thermal resistances are observed. Further increase in thermal
resistance is observed with increase in heat input.
• For FT 300-500°C, low thermal resistance are observed for the three filling ratios (60%, 70% and 80%).
• With increase in heat input decrease in thermal resistance is observed
• FR 70% is observed to offer least thermal resistance 0.25°C/W at 500°C.
28
 Results- Dowtherm-A (3-turn CLPHP)
Effect of Inclination – fluid flow behavior
FR 70% 0° 30 ° 60 °

0° 30 ° 60 °

• At 0° inclination, operation of the PHP is not observed. With increase in inclination, PHP starts its operation. At low
inclinations (30° )proper start-up and operation at low heat input is observed, yet at high heat input performance is
observed to degrade. For 45° -90° inclination proper stable operation for all the heat input is observed.
• For β variation, improvement in performance compared to θ variation is observed due to increase in gravitational
29
assistance. Also unidirectional flow inline with geometry is depicted by the device for β variation.
 Results- Dowtherm-A (3-turn CLPHP)
Effect of Inclination – heat transfer characteristics
FR 60% FR 70% FR 80%

FR 60% FR 70% FR 80%

Observations
• For the three fill ratio, for both variation decrease in thermal resistance with increase in heat input is observed.
• For β variation, early start-up for lower inclination is observed compared to θ variation.
• For β variation, improvement in performance compared to θ variation is observed for all inclinations due to increase
30
in gravitational assistance.
 Results- Water and Dowtherm-A (3-turn CLPHP)

Plots of temperature signal of evaporator section and its power spectral density
70 172
Evap T (Water) Evap T (Dowtherm-A)
68
Temperature (°C)

Temperature (°C)
66 171

64
62 170

60
169
58
56
168
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Time (s) Time (s)

150 45

120 36

Magnitude
Magnitude

F1 = 0.04 F2 = 0.052
90 27 F1 = 0.0133

60 18

30 9

0 0
0.000 0.036 0.072 0.108 0.144 0.180 0.000 0.036 0.072 0.108 0.144 0.180

Frequency Frequency

Observations
• For water, power spectrum is observed to have frequency range from 0-0.11Hz. The dominant frequency is
observed at F(2)=0.052Hz and the corresponding dominant time period is 19.23s. This cycle time period is
consistent with the average time taken by 8 cycles to cover 150 sec.
• For Dowtherm-A, power spectrum is observed to be periodic one with a characteristic dominant frequency of
0.0133Hz. The corresponding time period is observed to be 75.19s 31
 Important findings

❑Considerable difference in two fluids is observed at start-up and operational

temperature range and flow behavior.

❑For water in the operational domain the tested filling ratio exhibit characteristic
behavior. FR 40% is observed to offer least thermal resistance at FT 250C.

❑With fluid dowtherm-A, high temperature start-up and thereafter stable operation is
observed up to FT 500C. FR 50% is observed insufficient for proper start-up and operation
of the device. With FR 60%, 70% and 80% proper operation is observed at all heat input.

❑At 0 inclination, operation of PHP is not observed. At 15 inclination, erratic behavior is

observed. For 30 – 90 inclination proper operation of the device is observed. High
performance shown by higher inclinations compared to lower inclinations.

32
Performance evaluation of multi-turn PHP for industrial applications

Fabrication of the PHP (Photograph and schematic shown below)

• 14- turn and 30-turn CLPHP set-ups was made from 2 mm (ID) and 6 mm (OD) copper tube

33
 Range of operating parameters

Development of the experimental facility

• Specially designed Furnace is used as a heat source and reaches up to a temperature of 1000 ºC
• Cooling bath provide coolant at constant flow rate and constant temperature
• Vacuum Pump, Compressor, Data acquisition system

Working Fluid Number Filling Ratio Inclination (°) Furnace Condenser

of turns (%) Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)
Water 14 40, 50, 60 θ = 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 100, 150, 200, 250 20

Dowtherm-A 14, 30 50, 60, 70, 80 θ = 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 200, 300, 400, 500 20

Photograph of the Experimental Facility

34
 Results- Water (14-turn CLPHP)

Effect of Heat input – fluid flow behavior and heat transfer characteristics
Observations
• 14-turn PHP shows similar flow behavior trends as were seen for 3-turn PHP for variation of heat input
• 14-turn PHP transfer high heat transfer (325W) as compared to 3-turn PHP which is 160W at same operating conditions

14-turn 3-turn

Effect of Filling ratio – fluid flow behavior and heat transfer characteristics
Observations
• 14-turn PHP shows similar flow behavior trends as were seen for 3-turn PHP for different filling ratios
• 14-turn PHP exhibit low thermal resistances as were seen for 3-turn PHP.
• Unlike 3-turn PHP, diminishing effect of FR on the performance is observed with increase in heat input.

Effect of Inclination – fluid flow behavior and heat transfer characteristics

Observations
• 14-turn PHP shows improvement in performance for lower inclinations as compared to 3-turn PHP. 35
• Trend of convergence towards orientation independent performance is observed for higher inclinations.
 Results- Dowtherm-A (14 and 30-turn CLPHP)

Effect of Heat input – fluid flow behavior and heat transfer characteristics
Observations
• 14 and 30-turn PHP shows similar flow behavior trends as were seen for 3-turn PHP for variation of heat input
• 14 and 30-turn PHP transfer high heat transfer (1500W and 3000W) as compared to 3-turn PHP which is 830W at same
operating conditions

Effect of Filling ratio – fluid flow behavior and heat transfer characteristics
Observations
• 14 and 30-turn PHP shows similar flow behavior trends as were seen for 3-turn PHP for different filling ratios
• 14 and 30-turn PHP exhibit low thermal resistances as were seen for 3-turn PHP.
• Unlike 3-turn PHP, diminishing effect of FR on the performance is observed with increase in heat input.

Effect of Inclination – fluid flow behavior and heat transfer characteristics

Observations
• With increase in number of turns to14 and 30-turn, PHP shows tendency to orientation independent performance.
FR 70%

3-turn 14-turn 30-turn

36
 Results- Dowtherm-A (14-turn CLPHP)

Repeatability of the experiments and reliability of the device FR 70%, 90°

Repeatability of experiments Hysteresis Long duration run

Observations
• Three sets of experiments are performed to ensure repeatability of experiments. Plots shows that experimental
results are repeatable with high accuracy at high temperature.
• Hysteresis behavior is also studied. It is observed that there is minimal hysteresis (~5% at FT 300°C) in the
temperature measurements of the PHP.
• In order to ensure the stability of the fluid flow behavior, a long duration run is experimented for 4 hours. Results
indicate the stable fluid flow behavior of the device with the fluid.
37
 Important Findings from Present Study

Water as working fluid:

➢ Proper operation of the CLPHP with fluid water is observed.

➢ With temperature limits FT - 100 ˚C at evaporator section and 20 ˚C at condenser section, the device is found to
be in threshold Domain. Proper operation is observed up to FT - 250 ˚C once threshold is crossed.

➢ At the tried filling ratios 40%, 50% & 60% , the CLPHP is observed to perform properly.

Dowtherm A as working fluid:

➢ PHP is observed operational with Fluid Dowtherm-A.

➢ With temperature limits FT - 200 ˚C at evaporator section and 20 ˚C at condenser section, the device is found to
be in threshold Domain. Proper operation is observed up to FT 600 ˚C, once threshold is crossed.

➢ Among the tried filling ratios 50%, 60%, 70% & 80% , the CLPHP is observed to perform well at FR 60% &
70%. Fr 50% seems insufficient as initial dry-out is observed & at FR 80% behavior of the device tends to
approach two-phase thermosyphon.

➢ Stable operation at high temperature is observed at which high heat transfer is observed.

➢ For FR 60% and 70%, orientation independent operation is observed at high heat input (FT 600 ˚C)
38
 Scope of future works

➢ Compared to wicked heat pipe, very few conventional fluids are tested in PHPs. For
higher range of temperature, different heat transfer fluids of respective range could be
tested.

➢ For practical implementation, long duration testing of high temperature PHPs should be
done.

➢ Flow visualization during high temperature operation could be done.

➢ Apart from temperature measurements, other parameters like instantaneous flow and
pressure measurements could be done.

➢ Surface or geometric modifications in the evaporator and the condenser of the PHP
should be attempted to enhance its capability.

39
 References

1. Gaugler, R.S. US Patent 2350348. 1942.

2. Grover, G.M. US Patent 3229759. 1963.

3. Khandekar, S. Thermo-hydrodynamics of Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes, Phd Thesis at IKE, Stutgart,
Germany, 2004.

4. Akachi, H., Polášek, F. and Štulc, P., Pulsating Heat Pipes, 5th Int. Heat Pipe Symposium, Melbourne,
Australia, pp. 208-217. 1996.

5. Khandekar, S. Groll, M. Insights into the Performance Modes of Closed LoopPulsating Heat Pipes and Some
Design hints. 18 th National & 7 th ISHMT-ASME Heatand Mass Transfer Conference, January 4-6, 2006,
IIT Guwahati, India.

6. Maezawa, S., Nakajima, R., Gi, K., and Akachi, H., Experimental Study on ChaoticBehavior of
thermohydraulic Oscillation on Oscillating Thermosyphon, Proc. 5thInternational Heat Pipe Symposium, pp.
131–137, Melbourne, Australia, 1996.

7. Cai, Q., Chen, C. L., and Asfia, J. F., Operating Characteristic Investigations in Pulsating Heat Pipe, ASME J.
Heat Transfer, vol. 128, pp. 1329–1334, 2006.

8. Charoensawan, P., Khandekar, S., Groll, M., and Terdtoon, P., Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes, Part A:
Parametric Experimental Investigations, Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 23, no. 16, pp. 2009–2020, 2003.

40
Thank you

41