Heat transfer characteristics of the evaporator section using small helical coiled pipes in a looped heat pipe

An experimental study was carried out for the heat transfer characteristics and the flow patterns of the evaporator section using small diameter coiled pipes in a looped heat pipe (LHP). Two coiled pipes: the glass pipe and the stainless steel pipes were used as evaporator section in the LHP, respectively. Flow and heat transfer characteristics in the coiled tubes of the evaporator section were investigated under the different filling ratios and heat fluxes. The experimental results show that the combined effect of the evaporation of the thin liquid film, the disturbance caused by pulsation and the secondary flow enhanced greatly the heat transfer and the critical heat flux of the evaporator section. In final, two dimensionless empirical correlations were proposed for predicting the heat transfer coefficients of the evaporator section before and after dryout occurs.