Experimental study of two-phase closed vertical thermosyphons for sub-ambient temperature applications
Date
2018-12-20
Authors
Silveira, Pedro Saynovich Berto da
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Two-phase closed vertical thermosyphons (TCVT), also known as gravity-assisted
heat pipes, are very e cient heat transfer devices. They work in two-phase close
cycles where latent heat of evaporation and condensation is used to transfer heat, and
are widely employed in industry applications. The increasing number of thermally
e cient equipment that apply TCVT are explained by their high geometric
exibility
and low cost, being important solutions for heat transfer and temperature control
problems.
This research presents a brief guide on the design, prototyping, and experimental
testing of two-phase closed vertical thermosyphons (TCVT). The work was conducted
at LEPTEN/Labtucal, a research laboratory in Brazil focused on applied heat transfer
elds, which includes heat pipe and thermosyphon technology development. The
design and prototyping guidelines of a TCVT are described in details. All the prototyping
and testing of the system is conducted according to procedures presented
in up-to-date literature, using proper equipment and following the steps previously
established by other researchers. The experimental setup and methods to evaluate
the designed TCVT performance are presented. Experimental results for two
uids
(namely R141b and acetone) using di erent lling ratios are showed in order to obtain
the percentage of
uid that yields the minimum temperature di erence along the thermosyphon.
Results are discussed and further analyzed to conclude the con guration
that achieves best performance.
Description
Keywords
Thermosyphons, Refrigeration, passive refrigeration, heat pipes