Miniature heat pipes as compressor cooling devices

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is an analytical and experimental study on heat transfer and temperature distribution for hermetic refrigeration compressor using miniature heat pipes as two-phase thermal control system. Heat pipe based coolers, such as miniature and micro heat pipe spreaders, loop heat pipes and loop thermosyphons ensure the temperature decrease of the most important parts of the compressor – cylinder head, cylinder, oil and compressor shell down to 10–15 °C. The experimental validation of the analytical study was performed for four different designs of miniature heat pipes.