PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SODIUM HEAT PIPE THROUGH PARAMETERIC STUDIES

Abstract

The performance of alkali heat pipe greatly depends on the properties of the wick material. In the present work, an experimental investigation is conducted to study the performance of high temperature sodium heat pipe with annular and composite wick structures. The operating limits of the heat pipe for these wick structures are evaluated and the effective working region of the heat pipe is identified. The experiments are conducted for annular and composite wick, different heat inputs, fill ratio and orientation. The results showed that the composite wick heat pipe is performing better in terms of its lower thermal resistance. The sodium heat pipe showed better heat transfer characteristics at a fill ratio of 40% and at an orientation of 30°.