Experimental and numerical simulation study of sodium heat pipe with large aspect ratio

Abstract

As a core cooling device of reactor, a high temperature sodium heat pipe is designed in this paper which has a large aspect ratio of 126. The effects of heating mode and evaporation section length on its start-up are studied experimentally. The results show that the axial temperature uniformity of the heat pipe is better under variable power heating mode. As the evaporation cross-section length increases, thermal resistance decreases by 50%. Compared with heat pipes with low aspect ratio, heat pipes with large aspect ratio are more difficult to start up. Furthermore, numerical simulation is conducted on the designed sodium heat pipe to acquire the velocity and pressure distribution during steady-state operation.