Experimental Investigation on Cooling/Heating Characteristics of Ultra-Thin Micro Heat Pipe for Electric Vehicle Battery Thermal Management

Due to the heat pipes’ transient conduction,phase change and fluid dynamics during cooling/heating with high frequency charging/discharging of batteries,it is crucial to investigate in depth the experimental dynamic thermal characteristics in such complex heat transfer processes for more accurate thermal analysis and design of a BTMS. In this paper,the use of ultra?thin micro heat pipe(UMHP) for thermal management of a lithium?ion battery pack in EVs is explored by experiments to reveal the cooling/heating characteristics of the UMHP pack. The cooling performance is evaluated under di erent constant discharging and transient heat inputs conditions. And the heating e ciency is assessed under several sub?zero temperatures through heating films with/without UMHPs. Results show that the pro?posed UMHP BTMS with forced convection can keep the maximum temperature of the pack below 40 °C under 1 ~ 3 C discharging,and e ectively reduced the instant temperature increases and minimize the temperature fluctuation of the pack during transient federal urban driving schedule(FUDS) road conditions. Experimental data also indicate that heating films stuck on the fins of UMHPs brought about adequate high heating e ciency comparing with that stuck on the surface of cells under the same heating power,but has more convenient maintenance and less cost for the BTMS. The experimental dynamic temperature characteristics of UMHP which is found to be a high?e cient and low?energy consumption cooling/heating method for BTMSs,can be performed to guide thermal analysis and optimiza?tion of heat pipe BTMSs.

Decoupled thermal–hydraulic analysis of an air-cooled separated heat pipe for spent fuel pools under natural convection

An investigation of the decoupled thermal–hydraulic analysis of a separated heat pipe spent fuel pool passive cooling system(SFS)is essential for practical engineering applications.Based on the principles of thermal and mass balance,this study decoupled the heat transfer processes in the SFS.In accordance with the decoupling conditions,we modeled the spent fuel pool of the CAP1400 pressurized water reactor in Weihai and used computational fluid dynamics to explore the heat dissipation capacity of the SFS under different air temperatures and wind speeds.The results show that the air-cooled separated heat pipe radiator achieved optimal performance at an air temperature of 10℃ or wind speed of 8 m/s.Fitted equations for the equivalent thermal conductivity of the separated heat pipes with the wind speed and air temperature we obtained according to the thermal resistance network model.This study is instructive for the actual operation of an SFS.

Effect of the Arrangement of a New-Type of Turbulator Inserts on Heat Pipe Exchanger Performances

This research tests the effect of introducing turbulators of a new type into a circular tube heat exchanger under a constant and uniform longitudinal heatflux condition.A 45 mm diameter copper tube with a length of 1,350 mm is utilized with a solid disk being inserted inside the tube,which consists of three sections,each one containing two slots.The slot is cut at a 45 degree angle toward the inner tube surface,which results in diverging theflow toward the inner hot tube surface in order to enhance the heat transfer process.Air is considered as the workingfluid with Prandtl number 0.71.The Reynolds number spans the interval from 6,000–13,500,which indicates that the consideredflow is turbulent.The heat exchanger performance is studied and analyzed in terms of average Nusselt number.The experimental results show that the Nusselt number value is directly proportional to the increase of the Reynolds number,and the number of turbulators inserts.With the use of three novel turbulators,the heat transfer was about 3.15 times higher than that in the smooth tube and the friction factor was about 1.11.

Localized Theoretical Analysis of Thermal Performance of Individually Finned Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger for Air Conditioning with Freon R404A as Working Fluid

This work contributes to the improvement of energy-saving in air conditioning systems. The objective is to apply the thermal efficiency of heat exchangers for localized determination of the thermal performance of heat exchangers with individually finned heat pipes. The fundamental parameters used for performance analysis were the number of fins per heat pipe, the number of heat pipes, the inlet temperatures, and the flow rates of hot and cold fluids. The heat exchanger under analysis uses Freon 404A as a working fluid in an air conditioning system for cooling in the Evaporator and energy recovery in the Condenser. The theoretical model is localized and applied individually to the Evaporator, Condenser, and heat exchanger regions. The results obtained through the simulation are compared with experimental results that use a global approach for the heat exchanger. The thermal quantities obtained through the theoretical model in the mentioned regions are air velocity, Nusselt number, thermal effectiveness, heat transfer rate, and outlet temperature. The comparisons made with global experimental results are in excellent agreement, demonstrating that the localized theoretical approach developed is consistent and can be used as a comprehensive analysis tool for heat exchangers using heat pipes.

Localized Theoretical Analysis of Thermal Performance of Individually Finned Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger for Air Conditioning with Freon R404A as Working Fluid

This work contributes to the improvement of energy-saving in air conditioning systems. The objective is to apply the thermal efficiency of heat exchangers for localized determination of the thermal performance of heat exchangers with individually finned heat pipes. The fundamental parameters used for performance analysis were the number of fins per heat pipe, the number of heat pipes, the inlet temperatures, and the flow rates of hot and cold fluids. The heat exchanger under analysis uses Freon 404A as a working fluid in an air conditioning system for cooling in the Evaporator and energy recovery in the Condenser. The theoretical model is localized and applied individually to the Evaporator, Condenser, and heat exchanger regions. The results obtained through the simulation are compared with experimental results that use a global approach for the heat exchanger. The thermal quantities obtained through the theoretical model in the mentioned regions are air velocity, Nusselt number, thermal effectiveness, heat transfer rate, and outlet temperature. The comparisons made with global experimental results are in excellent agreement, demonstrating that the localized theoretical approach developed is consistent and can be used as a comprehensive analysis tool for heat exchangers using heat pipes.

Design and fabrication of sintered wick for miniature cylindrical heat pipe

Miniature cylindrical metal powder sintered wick heat pipe （sintered heat pipe） is an ideal component with super-high thermal efficiency for high heat flux electronics cooling. The sintering process for sintered wick is important for its quality. The sintering process was optimally designed based on the equation of the heat transfer limit of sintered heat pipe. Four-step sintering process was proposed to fabricate sintered wick. The sintering parameters including sintering temperature, sintering time, sintering atmosphere and sintering position were discussed. The experimental results showed that the proper sintering temperature was 950 ℃ for Cu powder of 159μm and 900 ℃ for Cu powders of 81 and 38 μm, respectively, while the wick thickness was 0.45 mm and sintering time was 3 h. The optimized sintering time was 3 h for 0.45 and 0.6 mm wick thickness and 1 h for 0.75 mm wick thickness, respectively, when copper powder diameter was 159μm and sintering temperature was 950 ℃. Redox reduction reaction between H2 and CuO during sintering could produce segmentation cracks in Cu powders as a second structure. Sintering at vertical position can effectively avoid the generation of gap between wick and the inner wall of pipe.

Influence of drawing process parameters on forming of micro copper tube with straight grooves

Using high-speed oil-filled spinning method,high quality micro copper tube with straight grooves（MCTSG） with an outer diameter of 6 mm was obtained.Then,MCTSG with an outer diameter of 3-6 mm was fabricated successfully by multi-pass drawing processing method.The influence of drawing parameters on the forming of micro straight grooves was investigated based on the forming mechanism.The results show that the values of groove depth and width decrease,while the wall thickness increases as the drawing diameter decreases.At the same time,the groove depth and width increase,while the wall thickness decreases as the die angle increases.The drawing force increases as the reduction increases.Excessive copper tube reduction may results in groove folding and segmental teeth.The drawing force decreases firstly and then increases with the increases in die angle.When the die angle α is 16°,the drawing force is the smallest,indicating 16° is the optimal angle.

Fabrication of flatten grooved-sintered wick heat pipe

With the rapid rising of heat flux and reduction of heat dissipating space of microelectronic devises, flattened sintered heat pipe has become an ideal conducting element of use in the electronic cooling field. A manufacturing technology named phase change flattening process is presented to fabricate the flattened grooved-sintered wick heat pipe （GSHP for short）. Deformation geometry of flattened GSHP and the elasto-plastic deformation of flattening process are analyzed theoretically and verified by experiments. The results show that the vapor pressure inside sintered heat pipe during flattening process is determined by the saturated vapor pressure equation; the width and vapor area of flattened heat pipe change greatly as the flattening proceeds; the maximum equivalent strain distributes at the interface between wick and vapor in the fiat section; the buckling phenomenon can be well eliminated when the flattening temperature reaches 480 K; phase change flattening punch load increases with flattening temperature and displacement.

Analysis of Heat Transfer Performance of Oscillating Heat Pipes Based on a Central Composite Design

Oscillating heat pipes (OHPs) are very promising cooling devices. Their heat transfer performance is af- fected by many factors, and the form of the relationship between the performance and the factors is complex and non-linear. In this paper, the effects of charging ratio, inclination angle, and heat input and their interaction effects on heat transfer performance of a looped copper-water OHP are analyzed. First, suppose that the relationship between the response and the variables approximates a second-order model. And use the central composite design to arrange the ex- periment. Then, the method of least squares is used to estimate the parameters in the second-order model. Finally, multi- variate variance analysis is used to analyze the model. The results show that the assumption is right, that is to say, the re- lationship is well modeled by a second-order function. Among the three main effect variables, the effect of inclination angle is the most significant, but their interaction effects are not significant. In the range of the considered factors, both the optimum charging ratio and the optimum inclination angle increase as the heating water flow rate increases.

Function chain neural network prediction on heat transfer performance of oscillating heat pipe based on grey relational analysis

As for the factors affecting the heat transfer performance of complex and nonlinear oscillating heat pipe (OHP),grey relational analysis (GRA) was used to deal with the relationship between heat transfer rate of a looped copper-water OHP and charging ratio,inner diameter,inclination angel,heat input,number of turns,and the main influencing factors were defined.Then,forecasting model was obtained by using main influencing factors (such as charging ratio,interior diameter,and inclination angel) as the inputs of function chain neural network.The results show that the relative average error between the predicted and actual value is 4%,which illustrates that the function chain neural network can be applied to predict the performance of OHP accurately.

Application of high temperature heat pipe in hypersonic vehicles thermal protection

In order to develop further the application of high temperature heat pipe in hypersonic vehicles thermal protection, the principles and characteristics of high temperature heat pipe used in hypersonic vehicles thermal protection were introduced. The methods of numerical simulation, theory analysis and experiment research were utilized to analyze the frozen start-up and steady state characteristic of the heat pipe as well as the machining improvement for fabricating irregularly shaped heat pipe which is suitable for leading edge of hypersonic vehicles. The results indicate that the frozen start-up time of heat pipe is long （10 min） and there exists large temperature difference along the heat pipe （47 ℃/cm）, but the heat pipe can reduce the temperature in stagnation area of hypersonic vehicles from 1 926 to 982 ℃ and work normally during 1 000-1 200℃. How to improve the maximum heat transfer capability and reduce the time needed for start-up from frozen state of the heat pipe by optimizing thermostructure such as designing of a novel wick with high performance is the key point in hypersonic vehicles thermal protection of heat pipe.

A review on application of nanofluid in various types of heat pipes

Nanotechnology is widely used in heat transfer devices to improve thermal performance.Nanofluids can be applied in heat pipes to decrease thermal resistance and achieve a higher heat transfer capability.In the present article,a comprehensive literature review is performed on the nanofluids’ applications in heat pipes.Based on reviewed studies,nanofluids have a high capacity to boost the thermal behavior of various types of heat pipes such as conventional heat pipes,pulsating heat pipes,and thermosyphons.Besides,it is observed that there must be a selected amount of concentration for the high-performance utilization of nanoparticles;high concentration of nanoparticles causes a higher thermal resistance which is mainly attributed to increment in the dynamic viscosity and the higher possibility of particles’ agglomeration.Enhancement in heat transfer performance is the result of increasing in nucleation sites and the intrinsically greater nanofluids’ thermal conductivity.

Analysis of Collapse in Flattening a Micro-grooved Heat Pipe by Lateral Compression

The collapse of thin-walled micro-grooved heat pipes is a common phenomenon in the tube flattening process, which seriously influences the heat transfer performance and appearance of heat pipe. At present, there is no other better method to solve this problem. A new method by heating the heat pipe is proposed to eliminate the collapse during the flattening process. The effectiveness of the proposed method is investigated through a theoretical model, a finite element（FE） analysis, and experimental method. Firstly, A theoretical model based on a deformation model of six plastic hinges and the Antoine equation of the working fluid is established to analyze the collapse of thin walls at different temperatures. Then, the FE simulation and experiments of flattening process at different temperatures are carried out and compared with theoretical model. Finally, the FE model is followed to study the loads of the plates at different temperatures and heights of flattened heat pipes. The results of the theoretical model conform to those of the FE simulation and experiments in the flattened zone. The collapse occurs at room temperature. As the temperature increases, the collapse decreases and finally disappears at approximately 130 ℃ for various heights of flattened heat pipes. The loads of the moving plate increase as the temperature increases. Thus, the reasonable temperature for eliminating the collapse and reducing the load is approximately 130℃. The advantage of the proposed method is that the collapse is reduced or eliminated by means of the thermal deformation characteristic of heat pipe itself instead of by external support. As a result, the heat transfer efficiency of heat pipe is raised.

Thermal Characteristics of Heat Pipe with Axially Swallow-tailed Microgrooves

A thermal model for a heat pipe with axially swallow-tailed microgrooves is developed and analyzed numerically to predict the heat transfer capacity and total thermal resistance.The effect of heat load on the axial distribution of capillary radius,and the effect of working temperature and wick structure on the maximum heat transfer capability,as well as the effect of the heat load and working temperature on the total thermal resistance are all investigated and discussed.It is indicated that the meniscus radius increases non-linearly and slowly at the evaporator and adiabatic section along the axial direction,while increasing drastically at the beginning of the condenser section.The pressure difference in the vapor phase along the axial direction is much smaller than that in the liquid phase.In addition,the heat transfer capacity is deeply affected by the working temperature and the size of the wick.A groove wick structure with a wider groove base width and higher groove depth can enhance the heat transfer capability.The effect of the working temperature on the total thermal resistance is insignificant;however,the total thermal resistance shows dependence upon the heat load.In addition,the accuracy of the model is also verified by the experiment in this paper.

Numerical Simulation and Optimization of a Mid-Temperature Heat Pipe Exchanger

In this paper,we take the mid-temperature gravity heat pipe exchanger as the research object,simulate the fluid flow field,temperature field and the working state of heat pipe in the heat exchanger by Fluent software.The effects of different operating parameters and fin parameters on the heat transfer performance of heat exchangers are studied.The results show that the heat transfer performance of the mid-temperature gravity heat pipe exchanger is the best when the fin spacing is between 5 mm and 6 mm,the height of the heat pipe is between 12 mm and 13 mm,and the inlet velocity of the fluid is between 2.5 m/s to 3 m/s.

Performance evaluation of ultra-long lithium heat pipe using an improved lumped parameter model

Lithium heat pipes have broad applications in heat pipe cooling reactors and hypersonic vehicles owing to their ultra-high working temperature.In particular,when the length of the lithium heat pipe is ultra-long,the flow and heat transfer characteristics are more complex.In this study,an improved lumped parameter model that considers the Marangoni effect,bending effect,and different vapor flow patterns and Mach numbers was developed.Thereafter,the proposed model was verified using the University of New Mexico’s Heat Pipe and HTPIPE models.Finally,the verified model was applied to simulate the steady-state operation of an ultra-long lithium heat pipe in a Heat PipeSegmented Thermoelectric Module Converters space reactor.Based on the results:(1)Vapor thermal resistance was dominant at low heating power and decreased with increasing heating power.The vapor flow inside the heat pipe developed from the laminar to the turbulent phase,whereas the liquid phase in the heat pipe was always laminar.(2)The vapor pressure drop caused by bending was approximately 22–23%of the total,and the bending effect on the liquid pressure drop could be ignored.(3)The Marangoni effect reduced the capillary limit by hindering the liquid reflux,especially at low vapor temperatures.Without considering the Marangoni effect,the capillary limit of the lithium heat pipe was overestimated by 9%when the vapor temperature was 1400 K.(4)The total thermal resistance of the heat pipe significantly increased with increasing adiabatic length when the vapor temperature was low.Further,the wick dryness increased with increasing adiabatic length at any vapor temperature.Such findings improve on current knowledge for the optimal design and safety analysis of a heat pipe reactor,which adopts ultra-long lithium heat pipes.

Sintering technology for micro heat pipe with sintered wick

In order to study reasonable sintering technological parameters and appropriate copper powder size range of micro heat pipe (MHP) with the sintered wick, the forming principle of copper powders in wicks and MHP's heat transfer capabilities were first analyzed, then copper powders with different cell sizes and dispersions were sintered in RXL-12-11 resistance furnace under the protection of the hydrogen at different sintering temperatures for different durations of sintering time, and finally the sintered wicks' scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and their heat transfer capabilities were analyzed. The results indicate that the wick sintered with copper powders of larger cell size or smaller size range has better sintering properties and larger heat transfer capabilities; and that the increase of either sintering temperatures or sintering time also helps to improve the wick's sintering properties and heat transfer capabilities, and the former affects more obviously than the latter. Considering both its manufacturing cost and performance requirements, it is recommended that copper powders with the size range of 140-170 μm are sintered at 900-950℃ for 30-60 min in practical manufacturing. In addition, two approaches to improve wick's porosity are also proposed through theoretical analysis, which suggests that the larger the wick's porosity, the better the heat transfer capabilities of the MHP.

Numerical investigation on the startup performance of high-temperature heat pipes for heat pipe cooled reactor application

A suitable model for high-temperature heat pipe startup is a prerequisite to realizing the numerical simula-tion for the heat pipe cooled reactor startup from the cold state.It is required that this model not only describes the transient behavior during the startup period,but also reduces the computing resources of the heat pipe cooled reactor simulation in the simplest way.In this study,a simplified model that integrates the two-zone and network models is proposed.In this model,vapor flow in the vapor space,evaporation,and condensation in the vapor–liquid interface are decoupled with heat conduction to achieve a fast calculation of the transient characteristics of the heat pipe.An experimental system for a high-temperature heat pipe was developed to validate the proposed model.A potassium heat pipe was utilized as the experimental material.Startup experiments were performed with differ-ent heating powers.Compared with the experimental results,the accuracy of the proposed model was verified.Moreover,the proposed model can predict the vapor flow,pressure drop,and temperature drop in the vapor space.As indicated by the analysis results,the essential requirements for successful startup are also determined.The heat pipe cannot achieve a successful startup until the heating power satisfies these requirements.All the discussions indicate the capability of the proposed model for the simulation of a high-temperature heat pipe startup from the frozen state;hence,can act as a basic tool for the heat pipe cooled reactor simulation.

Effects of bending on heat transfer performance of axial micro-grooved heat pipe

Heat pipe is always bent in the typical application of electronic heat dissipation at high heat flux,which greatly affects its heat transfer performance. The capillary limit of heat transport in the bent micro-grooved heat pipes was analyzed in the vapor pressure drop,the liquid pressure drop and the interaction of the vapor with wick fluid. The bent heat pipes were fabricated and tested from the bending angle,the bending position and the bending radius. The results show that temperature difference and thermal resistance increase while the heat transfer capacity of the heat pipe decreases,with the increase of the bending angles and the bending position closer to the vapor section. However,the effects of bending radius can be ignored. The result agrees well with the predicted equations.

Characterizing pressure fluctuation into single-loop oscillating heat pipe

The pressure characteristics inside single loop oscillating heat pipe （OHP） having 4.5 mm inner diameter copper tube with the loop height of 440 mm were addressed. Distilled water was used as working fluid inside the OHP with different filling ratios of 40%, 60% and 80% of total inside volume. Experimental results show that the thermal characteristics are significantly inter-related with pressure fluctuations as well as pressure frequency. And the pressure frequency also depends upon the evaporator temperature that is maintained in the range of 60-96 ℃. Piezoresistive absolute pressure sensor （Model-Kistler 4045A5） was used to take data. The investigation shows that the filling ratio of 60% gives the highest inside pressure magnitude at maximum number of pressure frequency at any of set evaporator temperature and the lowest heat flow resistance is achieved at 60% filling ratio.