Thermal performance on the influence of filling ratio of an acetone thermosyphon through numerical modelling

Abstract

A comprehensively numerical model is established to simulate the phase change in the evaporator section and condenser section in a two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT). Combination of Volume of Fluids (VOF) method and an user-defined function (UDF) sources is utilized to simulate the details of flow behaviors and heat transfer phenomena during heat and mass transfer inside the closed chamber. In order to investigate the effect of filling ratio of boiling pool, 50%, 75% and 100% filling ratio are obtained. The displayed contours are analyzed in the light of phase volume fraction, the vapor generation and falling droplets along the thermosyphon. Moreover, the thermal resistance and temperature distribution are conducted to investigate the thermal performance of liquid flow at the end of 10s. It is found that the thermal performance of TPCT reaches the best with 0.78K/W thermal resistance and smooth temperature distribution when the evaporator section is fully charged with acetone.