Experimental investigations of a loop heat pipe with active control of the operating temperature

Abstract

The paper presents the results of experimental investigations of a loop heat pipe with active control of the operating temperature by way of a controlled thermal action on the compensation chamber of the evaporator. The control was realized with the help of a thermoelectric converter, one side of which was in contact with the compensation chamber, the other – through a thermal strap – with the evaporator interface. The magnitude and the sign of the thermal action were determined with the temperature of the heat source stabilized at a level from 20 to 60 °C, the heat sink temperature varying from −10 to +30 °C, the heat load from 10 to 380 W and the slope angle from −90° to +90°. It has been shown that this method of control is most efficient at slope angles from 0° to +90° (the evaporator above) and allows maintaining the heat source temperature accurate to ±0.2 °C. In this case the energy expenditure for the control did not exceed 8% of the power of the heat source.