An experimental investigation on heat transfer performance of pulsating heat pipe

Abstract

Heat input and inclination angle are essential factors influencing heat transfer performance of a pulsating heat pipe (PHP). The heat transfer performance at different inclination angles is studied in this paper. The temperature distribution of a PHP at different inclination angles is obtained by using a thermocouple combined with an infrared thermal imager. The experimental results show that heat is distributed symmetrically under gravity assisted operation, and the average minimum thermal resistance is 0.17 K/W when the angle is 45°. When gravity inhibits circulation of the working fluid, temperature is distributed uniformly, and the thermal resistance increases up to a maximum value of 0.33 K/W. Meanwhile, during the gravity assist and suppression operation mode, the inclination angle only impacts the oscillating mode of the temperature. Particularly, when the angle is 90°, the PHP has the best mode of oscillation, with its heat resistance at 0.077 K/W.