Experimental Study of the Effects of Ferrofluid on Thermal Performance of a Pulsating Heat Pipe

Abstract

In this work, a four-turn Pulsating Heat Pipe (PHP) is fabricated and tested experimentally. The novelty of the present PHP is the capability of obtaining various thermal performances at a specific heat input by changing the magnetic field. The effects of working fluid (water and ferrofluid), charging ratio (25%, 40%, and 55%), heat input (25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, and 85 W), orientation (vertical and horizontal heat mode), and magnetic field on the thermal performance of PHPs are investigated. The results showed that applying the magnetic field on the water based ferrofluid reduced the thermal resistance of PHP by a factor of 40.5% and 38.3% in comparison with the pure water case for the vertical and horizontal mode, respectively. According to the experimental results, an optimum thermal resistance of 0.38 °C/W was achieved at the following conditions: water-based ferrofluid as the working fluid in the presence of magnetic field, vertical mode, charging ratio of 55%, 7% volumetric concentration, and 85 W heat input. This thermal resistance is 11.5 times better than that of the empty PHP.