low temperature heat pipes

Ethane Heat Pipes used with Oxygen heat pipes have been used to cool a superconducting magnet from room temperature down to cryogenic temperature in a Navy minesweeping application with field-tested reliability and trusted performance. 0000002001 00000 n <<826E1A8944DDF943A618E17042529AA8>]/Prev 786146>> 0000004056 00000 n The main reason for the effectiveness of heat pipes is the evaporation and condensation of the working fluid. The Merit number is derived below. An interesting property of heat pipes is the temperature over which they are effective. 0000003773 00000 n Due to the partial vacuum that is near or below the vapor pressure of the fluid, some of the fluid will be in the liquid phase and some will be in the gas phase. 0000087709 00000 n Pl Liquid Pressure Drop, assumed equal to the wick pumping capability These components are a hermetically sealed hollow vessel, a working fluid, and a closed-loop capillary recirculation system. One simply boils the working fluid in the heat pipe until the resulting vapor has purged the non condensing gases from the pipe and then seals the end. trailer As discussed below, there are other constraints that shrink the practical temperature range. 0000036861 00000 n Like traditional copper-water heat pipes, Cryogenic Heat Pipes can be bent and flattened to fit specific application geometries. 0000002834 00000 n However, the boiling point of water is dependent on absolute pressure inside the pipe. Aavids Methanol Heat Pipes use a copper envelope with a sintered copper powder wick structure which operates with or against gravity for more design versatility. xref (The capillary limit generally controls the power in the mid-range, while other limits control at higher and lower temperatures). A modified heat pipe with a reservoir having no capillary connection to the heat pipe wick at the evaporator end can be used as a thermal diode. Nitrogen Heat Pipes (65K to 120K) Nitrogen Cryogenic Heat Pipes are used to remove heat in extreme low-temperature environments such as space. for large geothermal. Practical Temperature Limits arediscussed in more detail in Compatible Fluids and Materials, where the Working Fluid and Envelope Compatibility Table lists practical temperature limits. To learn more about Materials and Solutions please click the arrows below. Some example fluids are water, ethanol, acetone, sodium, or mercury. Thus a wider range of heat fluxes and temperature gradients can be accommodated with a single design. Thin planar heat pipes (heat spreaders) have the same primary components as tubular heat pipes. Cryogenic Heat Pipes function as thermal solutions to protect sensitive detection devices in medical laboratory equipment, in home freezer units, in orbit and beyond. Inside a heat pipe, at the hot interface, a fluid turns to vapor and the gas naturally flows and condenses on the cold interface. Heat pipes are two-phase heat transfer devices, therefore, for a heat pipe to operate, a saturated working fluid is required, meaning there will be both liquid and vapor in the heat pipe. Initially, it might be suspected, that a water charged, heat pipe would only work when the hot end reached the boiling point (100 C) and steam was transfered to the cold end. Evaporation and condensation of the working fluid are what give heat pipes their high effective thermal conductivity, which can be as high as100,000 W/m K.During heat pipe operation, the working fluid is vaporized in the evaporator and then condensed in the condenser, thus transferring heat. The heat of vaporization greatly exceeds the sensible heat capacity. The vast majority of heat pipes for low temperature applications use some combination of ammonia (213-373 K), alcohol (methanol (283-403 K) or ethanol (273-403 K)) or water (303-473 K) as working fluid. 0000009544 00000 n Oxygen Heat Pipes (60K to 140K) Oxygen Cryogenic Heat Pipes are useful components for thermal management at temperatures between -213C and -133C (60K to 140K). JGWN0I_*B+VF^ EBN#M3gdQ5+KFp9~.JzS4Ch$1@( 6hR(DY\2cR@ cPd}".. @j- >`0822$0g`te\9i3~@rqg2|xA9}d,N0. When one end of the heat pipe is heated the working fluid inside the pipe at that end evaporates and increases the vapour pressure inside the cavity of the heat pipe. 202 0 obj <> endobj The amount of power that a heat pipe can carry is governed by thelowest heat pipe limit at a given temperature. This is typically a sintered metal powder or a series of grooves parallel to the pipe axis, but it may be any material capable of exerting capillary pressure on the condensed liquid to wick it back to the heated end. 0000001582 00000 n All Rights Reserved. 0000006524 00000 n At 150C, the saturated water vapor pressure is 69 psia (477 kPa). This calculation shows that the Heat pipe performance typically peaks in the middle of the temperature range between the triple point and the critical point. In the case of heat pipes containing wicks, the fluid is returned by capillary action. Awick Wick Area. We have several wick options that include common sintered metal powder wicks, flexible cable or porous metal foam wick to optimize your low temperature or cryogenic heat pipe for your environmental conditions. The heat pipe will operate, therefore, when the hot end is just slightly warmer than the melting point of the working fluid. The Merit number as a function of temperature is shown in Figure 1 for a number of typical heat pipe working fluids. The reason water and ammonia are common working fluids is that they are the best heat pipe working fluids for their respective temperature ranges, determined by comparing the merit number. Saturated Water Vapor Pressure as a Function of Temperature. a5 \"vVy0Urvay)Q]FjM28(Ll The working fluid latent heat is transferred by vaporizing the liquid in the evaporator and condensing the vapor back to liquid in the condenser. 0000009973 00000 n As nitrogen is inert, Nitrogen Heat Pipes serve as one of the safest two-phase cooling options, especially in high risk environments. 0000007978 00000 n 0000000876 00000 n The equation for the liquid pressure drop in a heat pipe is: Where A heat flux of more than 230 MW/m has been recorded (nearly four times the heat flux at the surface of the sun).[1]. Maximum power calculations for a typical water heat pipe are shown to the right The peak power occurs at a temperature near 150C), and drops off at lower and higher temperatures. 0000088705 00000 n These thin planar heat pipes are finding their way into "height sensitive" applications, such as notebook computers, and surface mount circuit board cores. A heat transfer mechanism that can transport large quantities of heat with a very small difference in temperature between the hotter and colder interfaces. A vacuum pump is used to exclude all fluids (both gases and liquids) from the empty heat pipe, and then the pipe is filled with a fraction of a percent by volume of working fluid, (or coolant), chosen to match the operating temperature. Figure 1. Note that the upper temperature range for some of these fluids is set by the fact that a superior fluid can be used at higher temperatures. Latent heat As discussed inCompatible Fluids and Materials there are a large number of other compatible envelope/fluid pairs that are used at other temperature ranges, or when additional factors must be considered. hb```3B y:Co N-[Q YR{q%#pIa%!K2f, 7.B6sL\%barNkis3'hwL3,J>~ Using water as an example, the energy needed to evaporate one gram of water is equivalent to the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of that same gram of water by 540 C (hypothetically, if the water was under extremely high pressure so it didn't vaporize or freeze over this temperature range). When making heat pipes, there is no need to create a vacuum in the pipe. A typical heat pipe consists of a sealed pipe or tube made of a material with high thermal conductivity such as copper or aluminum. hTN0~A4IS M0&M X;4C8r/6R%Z )fWWmlY\?w_vg/u]?M]vNYd[fl~U2OeiBEdns=92*/-C )%gL@s&LusDC_ Nitrogen Heat Pipe wick structures are optimized for each application and can include porous metal wicks which are useful to maintain performance in adverse acceleration, like launch conditions. Titanium or Monel envelopes increase the maximum operating temperature range for water to 300C. 95136 USA Phone: 408.564.7897. The heat pipe may not need a wick structure if gravity or some other source of acceleration is sufficient to overcome surface tension and cause the condensed liquid to flow back to the heated end. Heat pipes contain no moving parts and typically require no maintenance, though non-condensing gases (that diffuse through the pipe's walls, result from breakdown of the working fluid, or exist as impurities in the materials) may eventually reduce the pipe's effectiveness at transferring heat. Reliable and passive heat transfer in low temperature conditions including cryogenic environments, Utilize other low temperature heat pipes and more standard copper-water heat pipes to cascade heat pipe performance across the temperature range of multiple working fluids, Combine with heat sink structures or radiator panels to dissipate heat from your heat sources, Camera and Sensor Thermal Management in Launch and Orbit Conditions, Heat Removal in Medical Equipment using Low to Cryogenic Temperatures, Refrigerator and Freezer Cooling Systems for Sample Preservation and Testing, High Acceleration and Geosynchronous Orbit Missions. This heat pipe will transfer heat in one direction, acting as an insulator in the other. Boyds cryogeniccooling solutions are customized to meet your application-specific requirements. At lower temperatures, the vapor pressure decreases, as well as the vapor density, so the vapor velocity for a given amount of power increases. %PDF-1.5 % Boyd Corporation utilizes decades of two-phase cooling expertise to design and fabricate solutions that function and thrive well below room temperatures and into cryogenic environments. rrzuEy;kNs. In the case of vertically-oriented heat pipes the fluid may be moved by the force of gravity. kwick Wick permeability Heat pipes rely on a temperature difference between the ends of the pipe, and cannot lower temperatures at either end beyond the ambient temperature (hence they tend to equalize the temperature within the pipe). Ammonia Cryogenic Heat Pipes utilize a stainless steel envelope with a sintered stainless steel wick structure. %PDF-1.3 % The first step in selecting a heat pipe working fluid and envelope/wick material is to determine the operating temperature range. The practical upper-temperature limit for copper/water heat pipes is roughly 150C, and is set by the maximum allowable stresses in the copper envelope; see Figure 6. The practical operating temperature range for a copper/water heat pipe is roughly 25 to 150C. Variable conductance heat pipes employ a large reservoir of inert immiscible gas attached to the condensing section. The condensed working fluid then flows back to the hot end of the pipe. Heat pipes fluids are ranked by the Merit Number formula: where Ammonia Heat Pipes (200K to 400K) Ammonia Heat Pipes are used for low temperature applications that require an operating range in temperatures between 200K to about 400K. A low liquid viscosity reduces the liquid pressure drop for a given power. endstream endobj 910 0 obj <>stream Compared to a one-dimensional tubular heat pipe, the width of a two-dimensional heat pipe allows an adequate cross section for heat flow even with a very thin device. hoK@|&J_W8lJB$m&Pmg2& J! The inside of the pipe's walls an optional wick structure exerts a capillary pressure on the liquid phase of the working fluid. This is significant when the working fluid's vapour pressure is low. Active control of heat flux can be implemented by adding a variable volume liquid reservoir to the evaporator section. The advantage of heat pipes is their great efficiency in transferring heat. The mass flow rate is the heat transfer rate divided by the latent heat: Combining the three equations and solving for Q, the maximum heat transfer when only the liquid pressure drop is considered becomes: Where the first term consists of heat pipe and wick properties, and the second term is the Merit Number. 0000001678 00000 n Ammonia is chosen for spacecraft heat pipes since it has the highest Merit number (roughly 3 times less than water) in their typical operating temperature range. At temperatures below about 25C, the viscous and sonic limitsbecome important, limiting the heat pipe power. l Liquid density As with any saturated fluid, the saturated vapor and liquid properties become more and more similar as the critical point is approached. Return to Materials, Working Fluids, and Compatibility, 1046 New Holland Avenue, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601, USA | Phone: 717.295.6061 | Contact Us, Site Map | Privacy Policy | These heat pipes are available in 76 to 457 mm (3-18") and diameters from 6.35 to 15.8 mm (0.25 - 0.75"). The triple point and critical point for a number of common heat pipe working fluids are shown to the left and in the table below. 0000009875 00000 n Varying the gas reservoir pressure changes the volume of gas charged to the condenser which in turn limits the area available for vapor condensation. The velocity of molecules in a gas is approximately the speed of sound, and in the absence of non condensing gases, this is the upper velocity with which they could travel in the heat pipe. All rights reserved, ISO9001 & AS9100 Certified, ITAR Registered, Ecommerce Terms & Conditions | Ecommerce Returns & Refunds |, Heat Pipe Materials, Working Fluids, and Compatibility, ACT-VCC Vapor Compression Air Conditioners, AAHX Passive-Split Loop Thermosyphon Heat Exchanger System, AAHX Pump-Assisted Split Loop Thermosyphon Heat Exchanger, WAHX Passive-Split Loop Thermosyphon Heat Exchanger System, Passive Heat Pipe Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV), ICE-Lok Wedge Lock 250 Series- Order Online, ICE-Lok Wedge Lock 375 Series- Order Online, Ultra High Temperature Isothermal Furnace Liners (IFLs) For Copper Freeze Point Cells, Advanced Computational Methods & Modeling, Boiling Enhancement/Micro-Porous Coatings, Self-Assembled Monolayer (SAM) Coatings for Condensation Enhancement, On-Chip Thermal Storage for Pulsed Power (Smoothing), Air-to-Air Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger (HP-AAHX) Selection Tool, Wrap-Around Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger (WAHX) Selection Tool, When to Use Heat Pipes, HiK Plates, Vapor Chambers, and Conduction Cooling, lowest heat pipe limit at a given temperature, 1046 New Holland Avenue, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601, USA, Copper envelope with water as the working fluid is common for Electronics Cooling, Copper or Steel envelopes with Refrigerant R134a fluid is common for Energy Recovery, Aluminum envelope with Ammonia as the working fluid is common for Spacecraft Thermal Control, Superalloys: Alkali Metals (Cesium, Potassium, Sodium) for High-Temperature Heat Pipes. Leveraging extensive thermal design and test experience, our engineers keep a mind for manufacturability as we finalize your geometric and thermal requirements for cryogeniccooling. Merit Number for Commonly Used Heat Pipe Working Fluids. hTQk1=Xs.4T@|vfibV>>:3TtHPtOhTY!0`!:B/9#w~'8Pj]Whhn\41t[G|^T;?.QRxj.r` Hs 0000002937 00000 n 0000002292 00000 n 202 29 In an evacuated pipe, water will boil just slightly above its freezing point (0 C). The capillary limit is reached when the sum of the liquid, vapor, and gravitational pressure drops is equal to the capillary pumping capability: The Merit number neglects the vapor and gravitational pressure drops, and assumes that the capillary pumping capability is equal to liquid pressure drop. Working Fluids Theoretically Operate from the Triple Point to the Critical Point. 0000002149 00000 n Practically, most water heat pipes are designed to operate above ~25C). 0000003309 00000 n Methanol is generally the working fluid of choice when ammonia and water are not suitable, since it has the third-highest Merit number near ambient conditions. Aavids Nitrogen Cryogenic Heat Pipes have been proven to protect cameras and sensors in launch and orbit conditions near 80K at adverse tilts up to 6.5 cm in NASA missions. Water Surface Tension as a Function of Temperature, Water Latent Heat as a Function of Temperature. Ethane Heat Pipes (120K to 300K) Ethane Heat Pipes are ideal for low temperature applications that operate between 120K to ~300K. Fluid choices in a given temperature range are ranked by the Merit Number. 0000036470 00000 n Theoretically, the heat pipe will operate at a temperature just above the triple point (the unique temperature and pressure where the working fluid can be in liquid, vapor, and solid form), to just below the critical point (vapor and liquid have the same properties). Low Temperature Heat Pipes can also be used in conjunction with other heat pipes and technologies to accommodate wider temperature ranges and added heat dissipation or temperature control functionality. For a given heat pipe, the Merit number ranks the maximum heat pipe power when the heat pipe is capillary limited. Non-condensing gases (caused by contamination for instance) in the vapour impede the gas flow and reduce the effectiveness of the heat pipe, particularly at low temperatures, where vapor pressures are low. Since copper is relatively soft, the required diameter at wall thickness above 150C C becomes impractical. LEffective Effective Length 0000036987 00000 n Copyright 2022 Boyd Corporation. 0000036180 00000 n There are gaps in the cryogenic heat pipe temperature range (below about 100 K), where there is no currently known working fluid. 230 0 obj <>stream Cryogenic Heat Pipes can also be fabricated as Loop Heat Pipes for additional functionality and one directional heat flow. The average practical operating temperature range for water heat pipes is 25-150C (with an average upper limit of 300C with a titanium or Monel envelope). l Liquid viscosity. As shown in the figures below, both the latent heat and the surface tension approach zero near the critical point (373.9C). Surface tension Low Temperature and Cryogenic Heat Pipes enable high-precision temperature control, rapid temperature recovery, and long life under demanding conditions. Aavids Oxygen Heat Pipes in conjunction with Ethane Heat Pipes have been proven in applications such as cooling superconducting magnets from room temperature to cryogenic temperatures for Navy minesweeping applications. The latent heat of evaporation absorbed by the vaporization of the working fluid reduces the temperature at the hot end of the pipe. In this case, the upper-temperature limit is set by the fluid properties. 0000001889 00000 n From the figure, it is very clear why water is chosen as the heat pipe working fluid whenever possible. For a heat pipe to operate, it must be at saturated conditions, where the heat pipe contains both liquid and vapor. The ethane working fluid is typically enveloped in a stainless steel heat pipe with a sintered stainless steel wick structure. h277S0Pw/+Q0L)60 )Ic0iy!vv ) High liquid density and high latent heat reduce the fluid flow required to transport a given power, while high surface tension increases the pumping capability. Copyright 2022. 0000087993 00000 n endstream endobj 911 0 obj <>stream There are a couple of points to note: Selected Heat Pipe Working Fluids, Triple Point, and Critical Point 3728 Charter Park Dr., Suite C, San Jose, CA. 0000008797 00000 n The liquid falls or is moved by capillary action back to the hot interface to evaporate again and repeat the cycle. Almost all of that energy is rapidly transferred to the "cold" end when the fluid condenses there, making a very effective heat transfer system with no moving parts. Boyd develops extreme-temperature heat pipes to support large-scale industrial applications such as oil-shale extraction, maximizing uptime while reducing energy and maintenance costs. The vapor pressure over the hot liquid working fluid at the hot end of the pipe is higher than the equilibrium vapor pressure over condensing working fluid at the cooler end of the pipe, and this pressure difference drives a rapid mass transfer to the condensing end where the excess vapor condenses, releases its latent heat, and warms the cool end of the pipe. Companies such as Novel Concepts can produce flat heat pipes as thin as 0.5 mm (thinner than a credit card). 0 startxref There are many potential working fluids at a given temperature, for temperatures above 200 K. The fluid selected is normally the fluid with the highest, The merit number and material compatibility is not the only factor, i.e. Our design process first identifies the right working fluid for your application, then matches a compatible heat pipe metal to create a passive heat transfer component suitable for cryogenic temperatures. endstream endobj 912 0 obj <>stream 0000000016 00000 n In practice, the speed of the vapor through the heat pipe is dependent on the rate of condensation at the cold end. Methanol provides extreme-temperature performance because it does not freeze until approximately -95C (178K). For example, copper/methanol is often used for electronics cooling when the heat pipe needs to operate near or below 0C, the point at which water freezes. A good heat pipe working fluid has a large latent heat and a large surface tension. 0000005705 00000 n 909 0 obj <>stream Similarly, a heat pipe with water as a working fluid can work well above the boiling point (100 C), if the cold end is low enough in temperature to condense the fluid. Its Merit number is ~10 times higher than everything else except the liquid metals, meaning that it will carry ten times more power (in the proper temperature range) than other working fluids. 0000004962 00000 n Methanol Heat Pipes (~200K to ~400K) Methanol Heat Pipes have a working range of -20C to ~80C (-253K and 353K) are a staple of many low temperature applications. Learn more about theoretical and practical temperature ranges for heat pipes below. 2022 Hunter Micro All rights reserved. Function and thrive well below room temperatures and into cryogenic environments, high-precision temperature control, rapid temperature recovery, and long life under demanding conditions, Meet your application-specific requirements, Cryogenic Heat Pipe Temperature Control for Space Applications, Two-Phase Cooling - Ask an Expert Q&A Blog. } 36-5m&u67|J+G [=.Y5Ums]u{VE?E4|kZw3i+02s/,w~fB CY^Y+GWxtk6DlH#H}l!D*QwIH"iJ.:q:fODhCi7xU[#;CR'=0zE9n^)]P %bG{Cv|!7DFIAFFAceZM-7oMZVJugmA&1Q"8w E Methanol Heat Pipes are available in 76 to 457 mm (3 - 18") and diameters from 6.35 to 15.8 mm (0.25 - 0.75"). The materials chosen depend on the temperature conditions in which the heat pipe must operate, with coolants ranging from liquid helium for extremely low temperature applications (2-4 K) to mercury (523-923 K) & sodium (873-1473 K) and even indium (2000-3000 K) for extremely high temperatures. (Freezing point is used for the halides, cesium, and lithium since the triple point is unavailable.). Ammonias properties paired with a sintered wick allow heat transfer without gravity assistance so Ammonia Heat Pipes can operate horizontally or against gravity for temperatures between -50C to about 30 C (223K to 300K). Heat pipes employ evaporative cooling to transfer thermal energy from one point to another by the evaporation and condensation of a working fluid or coolant. In practice, the fluid range is smaller than the theoretical operation from the Triple Point to the Critical Point, since the power that the heat pipe can carry drops off sharply near the freezing and critical temperatures. They are a much better heat conductor than an equivalent cross-section of solid copper. %%EOF For example, a water heat pipe will carry some power between the water triple point (0.01C) and the critical point (373.9C). 0000007274 00000 n

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