Performance assessment of a geometrical modification on thermosyphon heat pipe with the assistance of novel convergent-divergent truncated cones for energy recovery systems

Abstract

Heat pipe technology has evolved significantly in addressing thermal management challenges. Still, existing heat pipe designs have limitations in efficiently optimizing heat transfer, particularly in scenarios with spatial constraints and variable heat loads. To overcome these challenges, this study deals with incorporating truncated cones in different forms, such as convergent and divergent, in the thermosyphon heat pipe. The parametric analysis and the performance of this research highlight the ability to handle varying heat loads and determine that a 1:1:1 ratio between the evaporator, adiabatic, and condenser sections of 300 mm in total length thermosyphon heat pipe may be expected to meet spatial constraints efficiently. Placement of the convergent truncated cone in the evaporator and the divergent truncated cone in the condenser helps improve the evaporation and condensation performance by 62.07% and 108%, respectively, when compared to the conventional geometry due to the increasing vapour and liquid velocities. Interestingly, the wall temperature decreases by 11.9%, and the thermal resistance is reduced, increasing the heat transfer coefficient by 85.68% compared to the uniform geometry thermosyphon heat pipe. Hence, these findings provide a path for promising applications in heat recovery and thermal management systems.