Simulation of the early startup period of high-temperature heat pipes from the frozen state by a rarefied vapor self-diffusion model Article

Cao, Y, Faghri, A. (1993). Simulation of the early startup period of high-temperature heat pipes from the frozen state by a rarefied vapor self-diffusion model . JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER-TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASME, 115(1), 239-246. 10.1115/1.2910655

cited authors

  • Cao, Y; Faghri, A

authors

abstract

  • The heat pipe startup process is described physically and is divided into five periods for convenience of analysis. The literature survey revealed that none of the previous attempts to simulate the heat pipe startup process numerically were successful, since the rarefied vapor flow in the heat pipe was not considered. Therefore, a rarefied vapor self-diffusion model is proposed, and the early startup periods, in which the rarefied vapor flow is dominant within the heat pipe, are first simulated numerically. The numerical results show that large vapor density gradients existed along the heat pipe length, and the vapor flow reaches supersonic velocities when the density is extremely low. The numerical results are compared with the experimental data of the early startup period with good agreement. © 1993 by ASME.

publication date

  • January 1, 1993

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 239

end page

  • 246

volume

  • 115

issue

  • 1