Innovative Configurations of Large Scale Heat Pipes

Abstract

A large-scale heat pipe is one of many possible solutions to the modern day problem of quickly dissipating high amounts of concentrated heat. While heat pipes are a proven technology, little research has been directed at large-scale heat pipe systems. Two configurations of large-scale heat pipes are investigated in this study. The two configurations examined were a 2’ × 2’ heat spreader plate (a type of heat pipe) and an innovative heat pipe system that combines traditional heat pipes and heat spreader plates. The heat spreader plate, when tested, quickly becomes isothermal and works as a traditional heat pipe. This demonstrates the ability of this large-scale heat pipe configuration to work effectively to spread out high amounts of deposited heat. The experimentation on the innovative heat pipe system gave similar results, showing that the configuration works as a traditional heat pipe.