Experimental and simulation study of a U-shaped water-cooled sleeve heat pipe radiator for high heat flux density

Abstract

Effective heat dissipation methods are desperately needed to ensure heat transfer of the large quantity of heat generated by radioactive isotopes in restricted places. This study employs the Bell-Delaware method to design a U-shaped water-cooled sleeve heat pipe radiator (UWC-HP) intended for heat dissipation on a 16 cm2 surface area with a heat flux density of 200 W/cm2. We have established a 3D model, which was experimentally validated, showing an error within 5 %. Subsequently, as the refrigerant and structural design of the condenser segment are crucial factors leading to the limitations of UWC-HP, this study aims to evaluate the impact of the condenser segment on the heat dissipation performance. Specifically, we investigated the effects of different cooling water temperatures, flow rates, and fin designs on the heat dissipation performance of the UWC-HP. Based on this, We found that the rib height, the number of ribs, and the rib material can strengthen the performance of the heat sink by a maximum of 12.3 %, 10.1 %, and 3.7 %, respectively. The heat sink optimized by orthogonal experiments has a maximum heat source surface temperature of 506.22 K and Nu of 101.85, which reduces the maximum surface temperature of the heat source by a maximum of 22 K and strengthens the heat sink capacity of heat pipes by 20 %. This article achieves efficient heat transfer for isotopic decay heat in a confined space by designing a heat pipe heat exchanger. It reduces the equipment's temperature and enhances the safety of the nuclear reactor.