Investigation of the effects of three key parameters on the heat transfer capability of a CLHP Original Research Article

A cryogenic loop heat pipe (CLHP) has been developed for future aerospace applications at the TIPC (Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry). The device has been tested in different situations with constant heat sink temperature of about 78 K. The effects of the reservoir volume and the pore size of the primary wick on the performance of CLHP were investigated. With a wick pore size of 2 μm, the CLHP can transfer a heat load of 26 W under horizontal orientation no matter what size of the reservoir volume being used. On the contrary, when the pore size was large (10 μm), the heat transfer capability of the CLHP can be up to 26 W only when a smaller reservoir (60 cc) was used, and its ability to operate against gravity was greatly weakened. Moreover, when the working fluid was oxygen instead of nitrogen, the heat transfer capability can be up to 50 W under horizontal orientation with the other experimental conditions remaining the same.