Numerical study of the heat transfer and flow characteristics of heat pipes

Abstract

In this work, a three-dimensional (CFD) analysis is used to investigate the heat transfer and fluid flow of a heat pipe using water and nanofluids as working fluids. The study focused mainly on the effects of volume concentrations of nanoparticles and the operating temperature on the heat transfer performance of the heat pipe using the nanofluids, but there is revealed also aspects concerning flow characteristics of fluids. The analysis was performed for water and two types of nanofluids, two volume concentrations of nanoparticles (1.0% and 4 vol.%) and three operating temperatures (70 C, 80 C and 90 C). Nanofluids were composed of water and SiC and TiC nanoparticles with the diameter of 10nm. The numerical results indicate that the volume concentration of nanoparticles has an important effect in reducing of the temperature difference between evaporator and condenser. The present study shows also that the thermal performance of a heat pipe can be significantly improved by using of both wick structure and nanofluids.