Experimental study on operating characteristics of titanium-water heat pipe in wide temperature range below 200 C

Abstract

Heat pipes, with their excellent heat transfer performance and absence of moving parts, are widely applied in the aerospace field for thermal management. The waste heat dissipation system of space high-temperature power operates within the temperature range of 100∼300 °C, which cannot be satisfied by traditional aluminum-ammonia heat pipes commonly used in spacecraft. In this study, a 2-m long wide-temperature-range titanium-water heat pipe was developed using 3D printing technology, with water as the working fluid and titanium as the shell material. To solve the problem of excessive thermal resistance caused by the poor thermal conductivity of the shell material, a method of adjusting the condenser section cooling method was employed. The heat transfer resistance, circumferential temperature difference, and heat transfer limit under different operating conditions were compared and studied. The results indicate that uniform cooling of the condenser section can greatly reduce the system's thermal resistance and circumferential temperature difference. Meanwhile, under constant water cooling temperature, non-uniform cooling is beneficial for obtaining a larger input heat flow, but the system operates at a higher temperature. Under the conditions of a fixed water cooling temperature of 20 °C and non-uniform cooling, the heat pipe can achieve an input heat flow of 1300 W.