Experimental research on cooling the condensation area to flat micro heat pipe using the inverted Seebeck effect

Abstract

This paper presents the experimental results obtained by cooling the condensation zone of a flat micro heat pipe (FMHP) using the inverted Seebeck effect (Peltier mode). In all cases of heat pipes, the working liquid must flow when there is a temperature difference between the evaporation zone and the condensation zone. The condensing area is cooled by blowing air through a radiator, which uses a Peltier module with a power of 50W as a cooler. At low temperatures, the vapor pressure of the liquid in the evaporator is very low. As the condenser pressure cannot be less than zero, the difference in vapor pressure is insufficient to exceed the viscous and gravitational forces, thus preventing the operation of FMHP at the heat transfer limit. The condenser is cooled after it reaches a thermal equilibrium. It is desired to highlight the temperature variations on the condensation area at the time of cooling air, as well as the temperature variation on the radiator of the Peltier module. The analysis starts from the theoretical component of cooling the condensing zone and compares the results obtained from the experimental research with those obtained by calculations. The research shows the temperatures recorded in the cooled area of the condenser, using forced cooling with air blowing using a Peltier module, powered by a direct current source. It also highlights the experimental contribution to the capture of the phenomenon of forced convection, possibly used for cases where FMHP should work at temperatures close to the occurrence of thermal blockage. The temperature values were taken by means of thermocouples mounted in thermal contact on the FMHP surface and are recorded by a data-logger in order to draw the graphs of temperature variation. This highlights the possibility of transporting high heat fluxes through FMHP, other than if it is conventionally cooled. For the calculations, the Mathcad programming environment will be used to plot the graphs of temperature variation on the condensation zone at forced cooling.