Abstract
This paper explores the pumping characteristics and behaviour of a thermally driven self-oscillating pump. The pump consists of a single wickless capillary tube with a circular cross-section. The tube is closed at one end and has a T-section with two check valves at the other end to provide for a one directional flow. An experimental setup was built to investigate the output mass flow and pressure head of the pump. During the experiments, the performance of the check valves had a negative influence on the output mass flow. To determine this influence, a video analysis of the fluid oscillation without the check valves was conducted and compared to results with check valves. The average output mass flow with valves was approximately 0.0010kg/s with a maximum measured pump flow of 0.0013kg/s. The maximum pressure head delivered was 0.25bar. A numerical model of the vapour bubble oscillation was developed to get a better understanding of the pump and its working principles. The model is based on the conservation of mass, momentum and energy, and resulted in a non-linear system of coupled differential equations. Overall, the experiments conducted with the thermally driven self-oscillating pump have shown that the pump has good potential to be used in aerospace applications.
Highlights
Driven self-oscillating pumps are simple and robust pumps with a minimum of moving components that operate based on the two-phase oscillation principle of a Pulsating Heat Pipe (PHP)
This paper explores the pumping characteristics and behaviour of a thermally driven self-oscillating pump, as a potential replacement for the mechanical pump in aerospace applications
The evaporator input power is increased within the specified range with steps of 20 W and the condenser temperature is increased by 15 °C per step
Summary
Driven self-oscillating pumps are simple and robust pumps with a minimum of moving components that operate based on the two-phase oscillation principle of a Pulsating Heat Pipe (PHP). The self-oscillating pump of this study consists of a single wickless capillary tube with a circular cross-section. The tube is closed at one end and has a T-section with two check valves on the other end. The tube is filled with working fluid and is divided into an evaporator, adiabatic and condenser section in analogy with conventional heat pipe terminology. This terminology is not entirely correct, since condensation may occur in the evaporator, as shown by Rao et al [1,2]. An expanding and contracting vapour bubble oscillates between the evaporator and condenser, driven by thermal energy. The vapour bubble acts like a piston, pumping fluid with the aid of the check valves
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