A novel design and experimental study of a cryogenic loop heat pipe with high heat transfer capability

Abstract

A cryogenic loop heat pipe (CLHP) has been developed for future aerospace applications at TIPC (Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry). This article presents a novel design of a cryogenic loop heat pipe and corresponding test system. The CLHP studied in this work has demonstrated to be able to operate in liquid-nitrogen temperature range using nitrogen as working fluid and to transfer large amount of heat over long distance with very small temperature difference. This device has been tested at three different orientations with respect to the relative position of the liquid line and the vapor line. The experimental results show that the CLHP can have a heat transfer capability of up to 12 W under horizontal and adverse gravity orientations and up to 20 W in liquid-nitrogen temperature range under gravity-assisted orientation.