1. The Design and Experimentation on
Nanofluid Heat Pipes
CALIFORNIA STATE
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY,
POMONA
Mechanical Engineering Department
Arash Babazadeh
Sandy Bevans
Ali Borna
Syukrirashiduhakim Subandi
Faculty Advisor
Maryam Shafahi
CPP Senior Symposium 2015
2. Problem Statement
❖ Given
❖ Computer generated model of nanofluid heat pipe
❖ Theoretical results of experiment
❖ Objective
❖ Select heat pipe, working fluid, and type of wick
❖ Finalize configuration and prepare schematics for running the
heat pipe experiment
3. What is a Heat Pipe
❖ High capacity heat transfer devices that use evaporation, insulation
and condensation as means to remove heat [1].
❖ Uses a wick, as a porous media, to pump the condensed liquid
working fluid to evaporation section [2-7].
4. Kinematics of Heat Pipe
[8]
1. Evaporation section: Working fluid is heat up. Vaporized fluid creates a pressure gradient to
force the vapor move towards the condenser section.
2. Adiabatic section: Vapor travels. Hollow and vacuum.
3. Condenser section: Heat exits. Vaporized working fluid condense and release its latent heat.
The condensed working fluid drawn back to evaporator section through wick.
[9]
5. Applications of Heat Pipes[10-12]
• Space applications
– Transport from inside to outside of
shuttles, satellites, etc
– Does not require gravitational force
• Technological systems - ones
that require large heat flux
with small space
– Computers
– Cell Phones
6. Wick
❖ Porous medium
❖ Empty space (capillary action)
created in between the particles
arrangement - enables fluids to
move through it.
❖ Pumping condensed working fluid
from condenser section to the
evaporation section.
❖ Types of wick.
❖ Screens
❖ Sintered metal powders
❖ Woven fiberglass or grooves
❖Sintered copper powder wick;
packed with spherical particles of felt
metal fibers or powders.
[13]
7. Using Nanofluids as a Working Fluid[15]
❖ Nanofluids have significantly higher thermal conductivities compared
to traditional fluids
❖ Although better performance, imposing nanoparticles increases
density and viscosity; hinders the performance of the heat pipe
8. Nanoparticle Selection
Al2O3
❖ Design for[15]:
❖ High thermal conductivity
❖ Optimal nanofluid mass concentration
❖ Small particle size
❖ Aluminum Oxide is a workable fluid
as long as:
❖ Range of specific heat flux at the desired
temperature range [16-17]
❖ Compatibility with the pipe and the wick [1]
9. Schematics of Experiment
❖ The experiment setup consists of resistance heater, watt meter, and variable voltage
transformer.
❖ Data acquisition part consists of temperature data logger and PC to record the
thermocouple readings at different positions of the heat pipe.
Heat Pipe setupFull experiment setup
[18]
11. Our Current Selections
• Copper heat pipe with sintered copper powder wick
• Aluminum Oxide nanofluid solution
• Equipment to set up experiment
12. Coming Soon
• Achieve desired conditions for heat pipe
• Conduct the experiment
• Record experimental results
• Extrapolate data and explain any deviations
13. Conclusion
• Heat transfer device that dissipates heat by the use
of a working fluid, wick, evaporator, and condenser
• Used in space applications and small technological
devices
• Nanofluids increase thermal conductivity of working
fluid, enhances thermal performance
❖ Purpose of Senior Project -
Test the theoretical model,
compare results, and report
any deviations
14. [1] T. Yousefi, S.A. Mousavi, B. Farahbakhsh, M.Z. Saghir. Experimental investigation on the performance of CPU coolers: Effect of heat
pipe inclination angle and the use of nanofluids. Microelectronics Reliability. Elsevier 2013.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026271413001649
[2] X. Yang, Y.Y. Yan, D. Mullen. Recent developments of lightweight, high performance heat pipes. Applied Thermal Engineering. Elsevier
2011.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359431111004868
[3] R. Saidur, K.Y. Leong, H.A. Mohammad. A review on applications and challenges of nanofluids. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews. Elsevier, 2011.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032110004041
[4] Gabriela Huminic, Angel Huminic. Application of nanofluids in heat exchangers: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
Elsevier, 2012.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032112003577
[5] R. Sureshkumar, S. TharvesMohideen, N. Nethaji. Heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids in heat pipes: A review. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews. Elsevier, 2013.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032112006582
[6] Ravi Mahajan, Chia-Pin Chiu, Greg Chrysler. Cooling a Microprocessor Chip. Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 94, no. 8, pp. 1476-86, 2006.
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=1705137
[7] S.H. Moon, G. Hwang, H.G. Yun, T.G. Choy, Y. II Kang. Improving thermal performance of miniature heat pipe for notebook PC cooling.
Microelectronics Reliability, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 135-140, 2002.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026271401002268
[8w] Medical instrument based on a heat pipe for local cavity hypothermia, Vasil’ev, Zhuravlyov, Molodkin, Khrolenok, Zhdanov, Vasil’ev,
Adamov, Tyurin, Journal Of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics, Vol 69, Nov 3 1996.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02606949#page-1
References
15. References
[9w] Scott D. Garner,PE “ Heat Pipes For Electronics Cooling Application”, (1996).
http://www.ht.energy.lth.se/fileadmin/ht/Kurser/MVK160/2012/Per_Wallin.pdf
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http://www.ht.energy.lth.se/fileadmin/ht/Kurser/MVK160/2012/Per_Wallin.pdf
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