Investigation of the Thermal Characteristics of a Flat Bifacial Evaporator Loop Heat Pipe.

The realization of a high heat flux removal with a flat loop heat pipe at ambient temperature is of great importance for achieving thermal control within spacecraft electronic equipment. In this article, a flat bifacial evaporator loop heat pipe with two flat thermo-contact surfaces has been proposed, fabricated, and investigated. The shell of the flat evaporator was made of stainless steel, and ammonia was selected as the working fluid. The startup and operating characteristics of the single side, both sides, and switching working modes were analyzed, as well as the influence of heat consumption, orientation, wind speed, and environmental temperature. The experimental studies indicated that this novel loop heat pipe can start up and run successfully under different working modes, and that the heat dissipation capacity of a set of loop heat pipes can reach 250 W at room temperature. Based on this, a light-weight and small electronic device has been developed using a multi-functional (efficient 'heat collection-heat dissipation-structural support') flat bifacial loop heat pipe to realize a kilowatt level heat dissipation capacity. This work can provide reference for the future design of high heat flux, light-weight, and small payload for use in spacecraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]