Heat pipe
A laptop heat pipe system
A heat pipe is a heat-transfer device that combines the
principles of both thermal conductivity and phase tran-
sition to eciently manage the transfer of heat between
two solid interfaces.
At the hot interface of a heat pipe a liquid in contact with
a thermally conductive solid surface turns into a vapor by
absorbing heat from that surface. The vapor then travels
along the heat pipe to the cold interface and condenses
back into a liquid releasing the latent heat. The liquid
then returns to the hot interface through either capillary
action, centrifugal force, or gravity, and the cycle repeats.
Due to the very high heat transfer coecients for boiling
and condensation, heat pipes are highly eective thermal
conductors. The eective thermal conductivity varies
with heat pipe length, and can approach 100 kW/(mK)
for long heat pipes, in comparison with approximately 0.4
kW/(mK) for copper.
1 Structure, design and construc-
tion
A typical heat pipe consists of a sealed pipe or tube made
of a material that is compatible with the working uid
such as copper for water heat pipes, or aluminium for am-
monia heat pipes. Typically, a vacuum pump is used to
remove the air from the empty heat pipe. The heat pipe is
partially lled with a working uid and then sealed. The
working uid mass is chosen so that the heat pipe con-
tains both vapor and liquid over the operating tempera-
ture range.
Below the operating temperature, the liquid is too cold
and cannot vaporize into a gas. Above the operating tem-
perature, all the liquid has turned to gas, and the envi-
1
Diagram showing components and mechanism for a heat pipe
containing a wick
This 100 mm by 100 mm by 10 mm high thin at heat pipe (heat
spreader) animation was created using high resolution CFD anal-
ysis and shows temperature contoured ow trajectories, predicted
using a CFD analysis package, courtesy of NCI.
ronmental temperature is too high for any of the gas to
condense. Whether too high or too low, thermal conduc-
tion is still possible through the walls of the heat pipe, but
at a greatly reduced rate of thermal transfer.
Working uids are chosen according to the temperatures
at which the heat pipe must operate, with examples rang-
ing from liquid helium for extremely low temperature
applications (24 K) to mercury (523923 K), sodium
(8731473 K) and even indium (20003000 K) for ex-
tremely high temperatures. The vast majority of heat
pipes for room temperature applications use ammonia
(213373 K), alcohol (methanol (283403 K) or ethanol
(273403 K)) or water (298573 K) as the working uid.
Copper/water heat pipes have a copper envelope, use wa-
ter as the working uid and typically operate in the tem-
perature range of 20 to 150 C.[1][2] Water heat pipes are
sometimes lled by partially lling with water, heating
until the water boils and displaces the air, and then sealed
while hot.
2 1 STRUCTURE, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
This 120 mm diameter vapor chamber (heat spreader) heat sink
design thermal animation was created using high resolution CFD
analysis and shows temperature contoured heat sink surface and
uid ow trajectories predicted using a CFD analysis package,
courtesy of NCI.
Cross section of a heat pipe for cooling the CPU of a laptop com-
puter. Ruler scale is in millimeters.
For the heat pipe to transfer heat, it must contain saturated
liquid and its vapor (gas phase). The saturated liquid va-
porizes and travels to the condenser, where it is cooled
and turned back to a saturated liquid. In a standard heat
pipe, the condensed liquid is returned to the evaporator
using a wick structure exerting a capillary action on the
liquid phase of the working uid. Wick structures used
in heat pipes include sintered metal powder, screen, and
grooved wicks, which have a series of grooves parallel to
the pipe axis. When the condenser is located above the
evaporator in a gravitational eld, gravity can return the
liquid. In this case, the heat pipe is a thermosyphon. Fi-
Cut-away view of a 500 m thick at heat pipe with a thin planar
capillary (aqua colored)
Thin at heat pipe (heat spreader) with remote heat sink and fan
nally, rotating heat pipes use centrifugal forces to return
liquid from the condenser to the evaporator.
Heat pipes contain no mechanical moving parts and typ-
ically require no maintenance, though non-condensable
gases that diuse through the pipes walls, resulting from
breakdown of the working uid or as impurities extant in
the material, may eventually reduce the pipes eective-
ness at transferring heat.
The advantage of heat pipes over many other heat-
dissipation mechanisms is their great eciency in trans-
ferring heat. A pipe one inch in diameter and two feet
long can transfer 12,500 BTU (3.7 kWh) per hour at
1,800 F (980 C) with only 18 F (10 C) drop from
end to end.[2] Some heat pipes have demonstrated a heat
ux of more than 23 kW/cm, about four times the heat
ux through the surface of the sun.[3]
1.1 Heat pipe materials and working uids
Heat pipes have an envelope, a wick, and a working
uid. Heat pipes are designed for very long term opera-
tion with no maintenance, so the heat pipe wall and wick
must be compatible with the working uid. Some mate-
1.2 Dierent types of heat pipes 3

rial/working uids pairs that appear to be compatible are
not. For example, water in an aluminum envelope will
develop large amounts of non-condensable gas over a few
hours or days, preventing normal operation of the heat
pipe.
Since heat pipes were rediscovered by George Grover in
1963, extensive life tests have been conducted to deter-
mine compatible envelope/uid pairs, some going on for
decades. In a heat pipe life test, heat pipes are operated
for long periods of time, and monitored for problems
such as non-condensable gas generation, material trans-
port, and corrosion.[4][5]
Diode Heat Pipes, which have a high thermal con-
ductivity in the forward direction, and a low thermal
conductivity in the reverse direction
Thermosyphons, which are heat pipes where the
liquid is returned to the evaporator by gravita-
tional/accelerational forces,
Rotating heat pipes, where the liquid is returned to
the evaporator by centrifugal forces
1.2.1 Vapor chamber or at heat pipes

The most commonly used envelope (and wick)/uid pairs Thin planar heat pipes (heat spreaders) have the same pri-
include:[6] mary components as tubular heat pipes: a hermetically
sealed hollow vessel, a working uid, and a closed-loop
Copper envelope/Water working uid for electronics capillary recirculation system.[9] In addition, a series of
cooling. This is by far the most common type of heat posts are generally used in a vapor chamber, to prevent
pipe. collapse of the at top and bottom when the pressure is
Copper or Steel envelope/Refrigerant R134a work- lower than atmospheric, which is 100 C for water vapor
ing uid for energy recovery in HVAC systems chambers.
There are two main applications for vapor chambers.
Aluminum envelope/Ammonia working uid for
First, they are used when high powers and heat uxes are
Spacecraft Thermal Control
applied to a relatively small evaporator.[10] Heat input to
Superalloy envelope/Alkali Metal (Cesium, Potas- the evaporator vaporizes liquid, which ows in two di-
sium, Sodium) working uid for high temperature mensions to the condenser surfaces. After the vapor con-
heat pipes, most commonly used for calibrating pri- denses on the condenser surfaces, capillary forces in the
mary temperature measurement devices wick return the condensate to the evaporator. Note that
most vapor chambers are insensitive to gravity, and will
Other pairs include stainless steel envelopes with nitro- still operate when inverted, with the evaporator above the
gen, oxygen, neon, hydrogen, or helium working uids at condenser. In this application, the vapor chamber acts as
temperatures below 100 K, copper/methanol heat pipes a heat ux transformer, cooling a high heat ux from an
for electronics cooling when the heat pipe must oper- electronic chip or laser diode, and transforming it to a
ate below the water range, aluminum/ethane heat pipes lower heat ux that can be removed by natural or forced
for spacecraft thermal control in environments when am- convection. With special evaporator wicks, vapor cham-
2
monia can freeze, and refractory metal envelope/lithium bers can remove 2000 W over 4 cm , or 700 W over 1
2 [11]
working uid for high temperature (above 1050 C) cm .
applications.[7] Second, compared to a one-dimensional tubular heat
pipe, the width of a two-dimensional heat pipe allows
an adequate cross section for heat ow even with a very
1.2 Dierent types of heat pipes
thin device. These thin planar heat pipes are nding their
way into height sensitive applications, such as notebook
In addition to standard, Constant Conductance Heat
computers and surface mount circuit board cores. It is
Pipes (CCHPs), there are a number of other types of heat
possible to produce at heat pipes as thin as 1.0 mm
pipes,[8] including:
(slightly thicker than a 0.76 mm credit card).[12]
Vapor Chambers (planar heat pipes), which are used
for heat ux transformation, and isothermalization 1.2.2 Variable Conductance Heat Pipes (VCHPs)
of surfaces
Standard heat pipes are constant conductance devices,
Variable Conductance Heat Pipes (VCHPs), which
where the heat pipe operating temperature is set by the
use a Non-Condensable Gas (NCG) to change the
source and sink temperatures, the thermal resistances
heat pipe eective thermal conductivity as power or
from the source to the heat pipe, and the thermal re-
the heat sink conditions change
sistances from the heat pipe to the sink. In these heat
Pressure Controlled Heat Pipes (PCHPs), which are pipes, the temperature drops linearly as the power or con-
a VCHP where the volume of the reservoir, or the denser temperature is reduced. For some applications,
NCG mass can be changed, to give more precise such as satellite or research balloon thermal control, the
temperature control electronics will be overcooled at low powers, or at the
4 1 STRUCTURE, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

low sink temperatures. Variable Conductance Heat Pipes denser. Again, no liquid is available when the nom-
(VCHPs) are used to passively maintain the temperature inal condenser is heated.
of the electronics being cooled as power and sink condi-
tions change.[13] Vapor Trap Diode Heat Pipes.
VCHPs have two additions compared to a standard heat Liquid Trap Diode Heat Pipes.
pipe: 1. A reservoir, and 2. A Non-Condensable Gas
(NCG) added to the heat pipe, in addition to the work-
A Vapor Trap Diode is fabricated in a similar fashion to
ing uid; see the picture in the Spacecraft section below.
a Variable Conductance Heat Pipe (VCHP), with a gas
This NCG is typically argon for standard VCHPs, and
reservoir at the end of the condenser.[17] During fabrica-
helium for thermosyphons. When the heat pipe is not
tion, the heat pipe is charged with the working uid and
operating, the NCG and working uid vapor are mixed
a controlled amount of a Non-Condensable Gas (NCG).
throughout the heat pipe vapor space. When the VCHP
During normal operation, the ow of the working uid
is operating, the NCG is swept toward the condenser end
vapor from the evaporator to the condenser sweeps the
of the heat pipe by the ow of the working uid vapor.
NCG into the reservoir, where it doesnt interfere with the
Most of the NCG is located in the reservoir, while the
normal heat pipe operation. When the nominal condenser
remainder blocks a portion of the heat pipe condenser.
is heated, the vapor ow is from the nominal condenser
The VCHP works by varying the active length of the con-
to the nominal evaporator. The NCG is dragged along
denser. When the power or heat sink temperature is in-
with the owing vapor, completely blocking the nominal
creased, the heat pipe vapor temperature and pressure in-
evaporator, and greatly increasing the thermal resistivity
crease. The increased vapor pressure forces more of the
of the heat pipe. In general, there is some heat transfer
NCG into the reservoir, increasing the active condenser
to the nominal adiabatic section. Heat is then conducted
length and the heat pipe conductance. Conversely, when
through the heat pipe walls to the evaporator. In one ex-
the power or heat sink temperature is decreased, the heat
ample, a vapor trap diode carried 95 W in the forward
pipe vapor temperature and pressure decrease, and the
direction, and only 4.3 W in the reverse direction.[18]
NCG expands, reducing the active condenser length and
heat pipe conductance. The addition of a small heater A Liquid Trap Diode has a wicked reservoir at the evap-
on the reservoir, with the power controlled by the evap- orator end of the heat pipe, with a separate wick that
orator temperature, will allow thermal control of roughly is not in communication with the wick in the remainder
1-2 C. In one example, the evaporator temperature was of the heat pipe.[19] During normal operation, the evap-
maintained in a 1.65 C control band, as power was var- orator and reservoir are heated. The vapor ows to the
ied from 72 to 150 W, and heat sink temperature varied condenser, and liquid returns to the evaporator by cap-
from +15 C to 65 C. illary forces in the wick. The reservoir eventually dries
out, since there is no method for returning liquid. When
Pressure Controlled Heat Pipes (PCHPs) can be used
the nominal condenser is heated, liquid condenses in the
when tighter temperature control is required.[14] In a
evaporator and the reservoir. While the liquid can return
PCHP, the evaporator temperature is used to either vary
to the nominal condenser from the nominal evaporator,
the reservoir volume, or the amount of NCG in the
the liquid in the reservoir is trapped, since the reservoir
heat pipe. PCHPs have shown milli-Kelvin temperature
wick is not connected. Eventually, all of the liquid is
control.[15]
trapped in the reservoir, and the heat pipe ceases oper-
ation.
1.2.3 Diode heat pipes
1.2.4 Thermosyphons
Conventional heat pipes transfer heat in either direction,
from the hotter to the colder end of the heat pipe. SeveralMost heat pipes use a wick to return the liquid from the
dierent heat pipes act as a thermal diode, transferring condenser to the evaporator, allowing the heat pipe to op-
heat in one direction, while acting as an insulator in the erate in any orientation. The liquid is sucked up back to
other:[16] the evaporator by capillary action, similar to the way that
a sponge sucks up water when an edge is placed in con-
Thermosyphons, which only transfer heat from the tact with a pool of water. However the maximum adverse
bottom to the top of the thermosyphon, where the elevation (evaporator over condenser) is relatively small,
condensate returns by gravity. When the ther- on the order of 25 cm long for a typical water heat pipe.
mosyphon is heated at the top, there is no liquid If however the evaporator is located below the condenser,
available to evaporate. the liquid can drain back by gravity instead of requiring
a wick, and the distance between the two can be much
Rotating Heat Pipes, where the heat pipe is shaped longer. Such a gravity aided heat pipe is known as a
so that liquid can only travel by centrifugal forces thermosyphon.[20][21] (See also: Perkins tube, after Jacob
from the nominal evaporator to the nominal con- Perkins.[22] ) (Dierent than a thermosiphon, which trans-

fers heat by single phase natural convection heat transfer
in a loop).
In a thermosyphon, liquid working uid is vaporized by a
heat supplied to the evaporator at the bottom of the heat
pipe. The vapor travels to the condenser at the top of the
heat pipe, where it condenses. The liquid then drains back
to the bottom of the heat pipe by gravity, and the cycle
repeats. Thermosyphons are diode heat pipes; when heat
is applied to the condenser end, there is no condensate
available, and hence no way to form vapor and transfer
heat to the evaporator.
While a typical terrestrial water heat pipe is less than 30
cm long, thermosyphons are often several meters long.
As discussed below, the thermosyphons used to cool the
Alaska pipe line were roughly 11 to 12 m long. Even
longer thermosyphons have been proposed for the extrac-
tion of geothermal energy. For example, Storch et al. fab-
ricated a 53 mm I.D., 92 m long propane thermosyphon
that carried roughly 6 kW of heat.[23]
1.2.5 Loop heat pipe
A loop heat pipe (LHP) is a passive two-phase transfer
device related to the heat pipe. It can carry higher power
over longer distances by having co-current liquid and va-
por ow, in contrast to the counter-current ow in a heat
pipe.[24][25] This allows the wick in a loop heat pipe to be
required only in the evaporator and compensation cham-
ber. Micro loop heat pipes have been developed and suc-
cessfully employed in a wide sphere of applications both
on the ground and in space.
2 Heat transfer
Heat pipes employ evaporative cooling to transfer thermal
energy from one point to another by the evaporation and
condensation of a working uid or coolant. Heat pipes
rely on a temperature dierence between the ends of the
pipe, and cannot lower temperatures at either end below
the ambient temperature (hence they tend to equalise the
temperature within the pipe).
When one end of the heat pipe is heated, the working
uid inside the pipe at that end evaporates and increases
the vapour pressure inside the cavity of the heat pipe. The
latent heat of evaporation absorbed by the vaporisation of
the working uid reduces the temperature at the hot end
of the pipe.
The vapour pressure over the hot liquid working uid at
the hot end of the pipe is higher than the equilibrium
vapour pressure over the condensing working uid at the
cooler end of the pipe, and this pressure dierence drives
a rapid mass transfer to the condensing end where the ex-
cess vapour condenses, releases its latent heat, and warms
the cool end of the pipe. Non-condensing gases (caused
5
A heat sink (aluminium) with heat pipe (copper)
by contamination for instance) in the vapour impede the
gas ow and reduce the eectiveness of the heat pipe,
particularly at low temperatures, where vapour pressures
are low. The speed of molecules in a gas is approximately
the speed of sound, and in the absence of noncondensing
gases (i.e., if there is only a gas phase present) this is the
upper limit to the velocity with which they could travel
in the heat pipe. In practice, the speed of the vapour
through the heat pipe is limited by the rate of conden-
sation at the cold end and far lower than the molecular
speed. Note/explanation: The condensation rate is very
close to the sticking coecient times the molecular speed
times the gas density, if the condensing surface is very
cold. However, if the surface is close to the tempera-
ture of the gas, the evaporation caused by the nite tem-
perature of the surface largely cancels this heat ux. If
the temperature dierence is more than some tens of de-
grees, the evaporation from the surface is typically negli-
gible, as can be assessed from the vapour pressure curves.
In most cases, with very ecient heat transport through
the gas, it is very challenging to maintain such signif-
icant temperature dierences between the gas and the
condensing surface. Moreover, this temperature dier-
ences of course corresponds to a large eective thermal
resistance by itself. The bottleneck is often less severe
at the heat source, as the gas densities are higher there,
corresponding to higher maximum heat uxes.
The condensed working uid then ows back to the hot
end of the pipe. In the case of vertically oriented heat
pipes the uid may be moved by the force of gravity. In
the case of heat pipes containing wicks, the uid is re-
turned by capillary action.
When making heat pipes, there is no need to create a vac-
6 4 APPLICATIONS

uum in the pipe. One simply boils the working uid in the Grovers suggestion was taken up by NASA, which played
heat pipe until the resulting vapour has purged the non- a large role in heat pipe development in the 1960s, par-
condensing gases from the pipe, and then seals the end. ticularly regarding applications and reliability in space
An interesting property of heat pipes is the temperature ight. This was understandable given the low weight, high
range over which they are eective. Initially, it might heat ux, and zero power draw of heat pipes and that
be suspected that a water-charged heat pipe only works they would not be adversely aected by operating in a
when the hot end reaches the boiling point (100 C, 212 zero gravity environment.
F, at normal atmospheric pressure) and steam is trans- The rst application of heat pipes in the space program
ferred to the cold end. However, the boiling point of wa- was the thermal equilibration of satellite transponders.
ter depends on the absolute pressure inside the pipe. In As satellites orbit, one side is exposed to the direct ra-
an evacuated pipe, water vaporizes from its triple point diation of the sun while the opposite side is completely
(0.01 C, 32 F) to its critical point (374 C; 705 F), as dark and exposed to the deep cold of outer space. This
long as the heat pipe contains both liquid and vapor. Thus causes severe discrepancies in the temperature (and thus
a heat pipe can operate at hot-end temperatures as low as reliability and accuracy) of the transponders. The heat
just slightly warmer than the melting point of the working pipe cooling system designed for this purpose managed
uid, although the maximum rate of heat transfer is low at the high heat uxes and demonstrated awless operation
temperatures below 25 C (77 F). Similarly, a heat pipe with and without the inuence of gravity. The cooling
with water as a working uid can work well above the at- system developed was the rst use of variable conduc-
mospheric boiling point (100 C, 212 F). The maximum tance heat pipes to actively regulate heat ow or evapora-
temperature for long term water heat pipes is 270 C (518 tor temperature.
F), with heat pipes operating up to 300 C (572 F) for
short term tests.[26]
The main reason for the eectiveness of heat pipes is the 3.1 Wider usage
evaporation and condensation of the working uid. The
heat of vaporization greatly exceeds the specic heat ca- NASA has tested heat pipes designed for extreme condi-
pacity. Using water as an example, the energy needed tions, with some using liquid sodium metal as the work-
to evaporate one gram of water is 540 times the amount ing uid. Other forms of heat pipes are currently used
of energy needed to raise the temperature of that same to cool communication satellites.[33] Publications in 1967
one gram of water by 1 C. Almost all of that energy is and 1968 by Feldman, Eastman,[34] and Katzo rst dis-
rapidly transferred to the cold end when the uid con- cussed applications of heat pipes for wider uses such as
denses there, making a very eective heat transfer system in air conditioning, engine cooling, and electronics cool-
with no moving parts. ing. These papers were also the rst to mention exible,
arterial, and at plate heat pipes. Publications in 1969
introduced the concept of the rotational heat pipe with
3 Development its applications to turbine blade cooling and contained
the rst discussions of heat pipe applications to cryogenic
The general principle of heat pipes using gravity, com- processes.
monly classied as two phase thermosiphons, dates Starting in the 1980s Sony began incorporating heat pipes
back to the steam age and Angier March Perkins and into the cooling schemes for some of its commercial elec-
his son Loftus Perkins and the Perkins Tube, which tronic products in place of both forced convection and
saw widespread use in locomotive boilers and working passive nned heat sinks. Initially they were used in re-
ovens.[27] Capillary-based heat pipes were rst suggested ceivers and ampliers, soon spreading to other high heat
by R.S. Gaugler of General Motors in 1942, who patented ux electronics applications.
the idea,[28][29] but did not develop it further.
During the late 1990s increasingly high heat ux micro-
George Grover independently developed capillary-based computer CPUs spurred a threefold increase in the num-
heat pipes at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1963, ber of U.S. heat pipe patent applications. As heat pipes
with his patent of that year[30] being the rst to use the evolved from a specialized industrial heat transfer com-
term heat pipe, and he is often referred to as the in- ponent to a consumer commodity most development and
ventor of the heat pipe.[31] He noted in his notebook:[32] production moved from the U.S. to Asia.

Such a closed system, requiring no external Modern CPU heat pipes are typically made of copper and
pumps, may be of particular interest in space use water as the working uid.[35]
reactors in moving heat from the reactor core
to a radiating system. In the absence of gravity,
the forces must only be such as to overcome the
capillary and the drag of the returning vapor 4 Applications
through its channels.
4.2 Computer systems 7

4.1 Spacecraft (VCHP) for spacecraft thermal control. The heat pipe is
an aluminum extrusion, similar to that shown in the rst
gure. The bottom anged area is the evaporator. Above
the evaporator, the ange is machined o to allow the
adiabatic section to be bent. The condenser is shown
above the adiabatic section. The Non-Condensable Gas
(NCG) reservoir is located above the main heat pipe.
The valve is removed after lling and sealing the heat
pipe. When electric heaters are used on the reservoir,
the evaporator temperature can be controlled within 2
K of the setpoint.

4.2 Computer systems

Heat pipes began to be used in computer systems in the
Heat pipes on spacecraft typically use a grooved aluminum ex-
trusion as the envelope
late 1990s,[37] when increased power requirements and
subsequent increases in heat emission resulted in greater
The spacecraft thermal control system has the function demands on cooling systems. They are now extensively
to keep all components on the spacecraft within their ac- used in many modern computer systems, typically to
ceptable temperature range. This is complicated by the move heat away from components such as CPUs and
following: GPUs to heat sinks where thermal energy may be dis-
sipated into the environment.
Widely varying external conditions, such as eclipses
Micro-g environment 4.3 Solar thermal
Heat removal from the spacecraft by thermal radia- Heat pipes are also widely used in solar thermal water
tion only heating applications in combination with evacuated tube
Limited electrical power available, favoring passive solar collector arrays. In these applications, distilled wa-
solutions ter is commonly used as the heat transfer uid inside a
sealed length of copper tubing that is located within an
Long lifetimes, with no possibility of maintenance evacuated glass tube and oriented towards the sun. In
connecting pipes, the heat transport occurs in the liq-
Some spacecraft are designed to last for 20 years, so heat uid steam phase because the thermal transfer medium is
transport without electrical power or moving parts is de- converted into steam in a large section of the collecting
sirable. Rejecting the heat by thermal radiation means pipeline.[38]
that large radiator panes (multiple square meters) are re-
In solar thermal water heating applications, an individ-
quired. Heat pipes and loop heat pipes are used exten- ual absorber tube of an evacuated tube collector is up to
sively in spacecraft, since they dont require any power
40% more ecient compared to more traditional at
to operate, operate nearly isothermally, and can transport plate solar water collectors. This is largely due to the
heat over long distances.
vacuum that exists within the tube, which slows down
Grooved wicks are used in spacecraft heat pipes, as shown convective and conductive heat loss. Relative eciencies
in the rst photograph in this section. The heat pipes of the evacuated tube system are reduced however, when
are formed by extruding aluminum, and typically have an compared to at plate collectors because the latter have a
integral ange to increase the heat transfer area, which larger aperture size and can absorb more solar energy per
lowers the temperature drop. Grooved wicks are used in unit area. This means that while an individual evacuated
spacecraft, instead of the screen or sintered wicks used tube has better insulation (lower conductive and convec-
for terrestrial heat pipes, since the heat pipes dont have tive losses) due to the vacuum created inside the tube, an
to operate against gravity in space. This allows space- array of tubes found in a completed solar assembly ab-
craft heat pipes to be several meters long, in contrast to sorbs less energy per unit area due to there being less ab-
the roughly 25 cm maximum length for a water heat pipe sorber surface area pointed toward the sun because of the
operating on Earth. Ammonia is the most common work- rounded design of an evacuated tube collector. There-
ing uid for spacecraft heat pipes. Ethane is used when fore, real world eciencies of both designs are about the
the heat pipe must operate at temperatures below the am- same.
monia freezing temperature. Evacuated tube collectors reduce the need for anti-freeze
The second gure shows a typical grooved alu- additives since the vacuum helps slow heat loss. However,
minum/ammonia Variable Conductance Heat Pipe under prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures the
8 4 APPLICATIONS

heat transfer uid can still freeze and precautions must be The principle has also been applied to camping stoves.
taken to ensure that the freezing liquid does not damage The heat pipe transfers a large volume of heat at low tem-
the evacuated tube when designing systems for such envi- perature to allow goods to be baked and other dishes to
ronments. Properly designed solar thermal water heaters be cooked in camping-type situations.
can be frost protected down to more than 3 C with
special additives and are being used in Antarctica to heat
water. 4.6 Ventilation heat recovery
In heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems,
4.4 Permafrost cooling HVAC, heat pipes are positioned within the supply and
exhaust air streams of an air handling system or in the
Building on permafrost is dicult because heat from the exhaust gases of an industrial process, in order to recover
structure can thaw the permafrost. Heat pipes are used in the heat energy.
some cases to avoid the risk of destabilization. For exam- The device consists of a battery of multi-row nned heat
ple, in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System residual ground pipe tubes located within both the supply and exhaust air
heat remaining in the oil as well as heat produced by fric- streams. Within the exhaust air side of the heat pipe, the
tion and turbulence in the moving oil could conduct down refrigerant evaporates, taking its heat from the extract air.
the pipes support legs and melt the permafrost on which The refrigerant vapour moves towards the cooler end of
the supports are anchored. This would cause the pipeline the tube, within the supply air side of the device, where
to sink and possibly be damaged. To prevent this, each it condenses and gives up its heat. The condensed refrig-
vertical support member has been mounted with four ver- erant returns by a combination of gravity and capillary
tical heat pipe thermosyphons.[39] action in the wick. Thus heat is transferred from the ex-
The signicant feature of a thermosyphon is that it is pas- haust air stream through the tube wall to the refrigerant,
sive and does not require any external power to operate. and then from the refrigerant through the tube wall to the
During the winter, the air is colder than the ground around supply air stream.
the supports. The liquid ammonia at the bottom of the Because of the characteristics of the device, better e-
thermosyphon is vaporized by heat absorbed from the ciencies are obtained when the unit is positioned upright
ground, cooling the surrounding permafrost and lowering with the supply air side mounted over the exhaust air side,
its temperature. During the summer, the thermosyphons which allows the liquid refrigerant to ow quickly back to
stop operating, since there is no liquid ammonia available the evaporator aided by the force of gravity. Generally,
at the top of the heat pipe, but the extreme cooling during gross heat transfer eciencies of up to 75% are claimed
the winter allows the ground to remain frozen. by manufacturers.
Heat pipes are also used to keep the permafrost frozen
alongside parts of the QinghaiTibet Railway where the 4.7 Nuclear power conversion
embankment and track absorb the suns heat. Vertical
heat pipes on either side of relevant formations prevent
Grover and his colleagues were working on cooling sys-
that heat from spreading any further into the surrounding
tems for nuclear power cells for space craft, where ex-
permafrost. treme thermal conditions are encountered. These alkali
Depending on application there are several ther- metal heat pipes transferred heat from the heat source to a
mosyphon designs:[40] thermoprobe, thermopile, depth thermionic or thermoelectric converter to generate elec-
thermosyphon, sloped-thermosyphon foundation, at tricity.
loop thermosyphon foundation, hybrid at loop ther- Since the early 1990s, numerous nuclear reactor power
mosyphon foundation. systems have been proposed using heat pipes for trans-
porting heat between the reactor core and the power con-
version system.[43] The rst nuclear reactor to produce
4.5 Cooking electricity using heat pipes was rst operated on Septem-
ber 13, 2012 in a demonstration using attop ssion.[44]
The rst commercial heat pipe product was the Ther-
mal Magic Cooking Pin developed by Energy Conver-
sion Systems, Inc. and rst sold in 1966.[41] The cooking 4.8 Wankel rotary combustion engines
pins used water as the working uid. The envelope was
stainless steel, with an inner copper layer for compatibil- Ignition of the fuel mixture always takes place in the same
ity. During operation, one end of the heat pipe is poked part of Wankel engines, inducing thermal dilatation dis-
through the roast. The other end extends into the oven parities that reduce power output, impair fuel economy,
where it draws heat to the middle of the roast. The high and accelerate wear. SAE paper 2014-01-2160, by Wei
eective conductivity of the heat pipe reduces the cook- Wu et al., describes: 'A Heat Pipe Assisted Air-Cooled
ing time for large pieces of meat by one-half.[42] Rotary Wankel Engine for Improved Durability, Power

and Eciency', they obtained a reduction in top engine
temperature from 231 C to 129 C, and the temperature
dierence reduced from 159 C to 18 C for a typical
small-chamber-displacement air-cooled UAV engine.
5 Limitations
Heat pipes must be tuned to particular cooling conditions. [9] Vapor Chamber Animation
The choice of pipe material, size and coolant all have an [10] Vapor Chambers
eect on the optimal temperatures at which heat pipes
work.
When used outside of its design heat range, the heat pipes
thermal conductivity is eectively reduced to the heat
conduction properties of its solid metal casing alone -
in the case of a copper casing, around 1/80 of the origi- [12] Modeling and Design Optimization of Ultra-Thin Vapor
nal ux. This is because below the intended temperature
range the working uid will not undergo phase change;
and above it, all of the working uid in the heat pipe va-
porizes and the condensation process ceases.
Most manufacturers cannot make a traditional heat pipe
smaller than 3 mm in diameter due to material limitations.
6 See also
Phase-change material
Thermosiphon, a similar mechanism in which ther-
mal energy is transferred by uid buoyancy rather
than evaporation and condensation.
Vapor-compression refrigeration
Evaporative cooling
Heat sink
CPU cooling
Air cooling
Water cooling
Peltier or thermoelectric cooling
Loop heat pipe
7 References
[1] Improving materials that convert heat to electricity and
vice-versa. Ecnmag.com. May 6, 2013. Retrieved 2013-
05-07.
[2] Popular Science Google Books. Books.google.co.uk.
Retrieved 2013-05-07.
[3] Jim Danneskiold, Los Alamos-developed heat pipes ease
space ight. Los Alamos News Release, April 26, 2000.
9
[4] Life Tests
[5] Examples of Incompatible Fluid/Envelope Pairs
[6] Heat Pipe Materials, Working Fluids, and Compatibility
[7] Compatible Fluids and Materials
[8] Dierent Types of Heat Pipes
[11] High Heat Flux, High Power, Low Resistance, Low CTE
Two-Phase Thermal Ground Planes for Direct Die At-
tach Applications, Peter Dussinger, et, al., GOMACTech
2012, Las Vegas, NV, March 2012.
Chambers for High Heat Flux Applications, R. Ranjan
et al., Purdue University Cooling Technologies Research
Center Publications, Paper 186, 2012
[13] Variable Conductance Heat Pipes for Precise Tempera-
ture Control
[14] Pressure Controlled Heat Pipes for Precise Temperature
Control
[15] Pressure Controlled Heat Pipe Applications, W. G. An-
derson et al., 16th International Heat Pipe Conference,
Lyon, France, May 20-24, 2012.
[16] Diode Heat Pipes
[17] Vapor Trap Diode Heat Pipes Animation
[18] Variable Conductance Heat Pipes for Variable Thermal
Links, W. G. Anderson et al., 42nd International Confer-
ence on Environmental Systems (ICES 2012), San Diego,
CA, July 15-19, 2012.
[19] Liquid Trap Diode Heat Pipes Animation
[20] Thermosyphons
[21] Thermosyphon Operation
[22] Kew, David Anthony Reay ; Peter. A. (2006). Heat pipes
(5th ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 10. ISBN
978-0-7506-6754-8.
[23] T. Storch et al., Wetting and Film Behavior Of Propane
Inside Geothermal Heat Pipes, 16th International Heat
Pipe Conference, Lyon, France, May 2024, 2012.
[24] Ku, Jentung; Ottenstein, Laura; Douglas, Donya; Hoang,
Triem. Multi-Evaporator Miniature Loop Heat Pipe for
Small Spacecraft Thermal Control. American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronomics. Goddard Space Flight Cen-
ter. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
[25] Ku, Jentung; Paiva, Kleber; Mantelli, Marcia. Loop Heat
Pipe Transient Behavior Using Heat Source Temperature
for Set Point Control with Thermoelectric Converter on
Reservoir. NASA. Goddard Space Flight Center. Re-
trieved 14 September 2011.
10 8 EXTERNAL LINKS

[26] W. G. Anderson, et al., Intermediate Temperature Heat

Pipe Life Tests and Analyses, 43rd International Confer-
ence on Environmental Systems (ICES 2013), Vail, CO,
July 14-18, 2013

[27] Heat Pipes, Fifth Edition, D.A. Reay, P.A. Kew, p. 10.

[28] Gaugler, Richard (1944). Heat Transfer Devices. Day-

ton, Ohio: U.S. Patent Oce: 4. 2350348.

[29] http://www.google.com/patents/US2350348?printsec=
drawing#v=onepage&q&f=false

[30] EVAPORATION-OONDENSATION HEAT TRANS-

FER DEVICE G. M. GROVER et al

[31] George M. Grover, 81, Inventor Of Popular Heat Trans-

fer Device, November 3, 1996, New York Times

[32] Heat Pipe research at LANL

[33] Inspired Heat-Pipe Technology, lanl.gov

[34] G. Y. Eastman, The Heat Pipe Scientic American, Vol.

218, No. 5, pp. 38-46, May 1968.

[35] Jansson, Dick (2010). Heat Pipes (PDF). QEX. ARRL

(Jul-Aug2010): 39. Retrieved November 14, 2011.

[36] W. G. Anderson, et al., Variable Conductance Heat Pipes

for Variable Thermal Links, 42nd International Confer-
ence on Environmental Systems (ICES 2012), San Diego,
CA, July 15-19, 2012.

[37] , 1998, Hong Xie, Intel Corp, IEEE

[38] Planning and Installing Solar Thermal Systems: A Guide

for Installers ... Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Re-
trieved 2013-05-07.

[39] C. E Heuer, The Application of Heat Pipes on the Trans-

Alaska Pipeline Special Report 79-26, United States
Army Corps of Engineers, Sept. 1979.

[40] Thermosyphon technology for ground freezing

[41] Midwest Research Institute, Heat Pipes, NASA Report

NASA CR-2508, pg. 19, Jan 1, 1975.

[42] Kew, David Anthony Reay ; Peter. A. (2006). Heat pipes

(5th ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 309.
ISBN 978-0-7506-6754-8.

[43] Nuclear Reactors for Space. World Nuclear Associa-

tion. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

[44] Researchers test novel power system for space travel.

8 External links
Frontiers in Heat Pipes (FHP) An International
Journal
House_N Research (mit.edu)
Heat pipe selection guide (pdf)
Heat Pipe Basics and Demonstration
 11

Alaska pipeline support legs cooled by heat pipe thermosyphons

to keep permafrost frozen
12 9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1 Text
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Charles Matthews, Vanished user 5zariu3jisj0j4irj, Omegatron, Hankwang, Moncrief, Rholton, Buster2058, Pabouk, Beefman, Wolf-
keeper, BenFrantzDale, Everyking, Ssd, Gracefool, Khalid hassani, Bobblewik, Quadell, Zootalures, Sam Hocevar, Tsemii, Rich Farm-
brough, Cacycle, Vsmith, Roo72, Bender235, ZeroOne, Twilight (renamed), Jlascar, Psychofox, Goldom, Apoc2400, Saga City, Stephan
Leeds, Dan100, ChrisJMoor, Firsfron, Mindmatrix, Andrea.gf, Zzedar, Josh Parris, Rjwilmsi, Gerriegijsen, Arnero, RexNL, Srleer,
YurikBot, Charles Gaudette, DMahalko, Shaddack, Grafen, TERdON, Whaa?, SmackBot, Delldot, Xaosux, Chris the speller, Snori, Fuz-
zform, Audriusa, JonHarder, Fuhghettaboutit, Rombobjrn, Swaaye, Ligulembot, Arielco, Chymicus, Kuru, Evil genius, Jaganath, Pce3,
Fromeout11, Iridescent, RSido, Mikiemike, CRGreathouse, CmdrObot, Jesse Viviano, NickFr, Old Guard, Pyrilium, Thijs!bot, Drpixie,
Vertium, Guy Macon, Liquid-aim-bot, Kristoferb, Lklundin, Mikenorton, Husond, Jesuitson, GurchBot, Roidroid, 7severn7, Magioladitis,
Swpb, Bragit, LorenzoB, Nodekeeper, Dr. Morbius, STBot, Jesant13, Siryendor, Foober, Ken g6, VolkovBot, Pihmpdaddi, Sloggerbum,
Isolm, CanOfWorms, Falcon8765, Spinningspark, Gspinoza, Kbrose, Biscuittin, Bdentremont, Editore99, Rocknrollsuicide, Lightmouse,
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Remotelysensed, Citation bot 1, Cassnat, Inlandmamba, Lepreshaun, Conicer, Sumone10154, Stj6, RjwilmsiBot, EmausBot, Super48paul,
Dewritech, Pahazzard, Jmv2009, Enviromet, Mmeijeri, Dcirovic, Quondum, Theodore.cackowski, ChuispastonBot, ClueBot NG, Newuy,
Matt Smith4, Gameyer4, Helpful Pixie Bot, Bibcode Bot, BG19bot, Sharpinnovations, DeathMetalParrot, Iczero, BattyBot, Khazar2,
Du-95SHO, LordZaylor, BillAnderson71, Heatlord, Yyash.vijay, Comp.arch, SteveNorth1971, Hodsie, Gabidanpremier, KH-1, Copper-
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9.2 Images
File:Alaska_Pipeline_Closeup_Underneath.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Alaska_Pipeline_
Closeup_Underneath.jpg License: GFDL 1.2 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Photo by and (c)2005 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man)
File:Aluminum-Ammonia_Variable_Conductance_Heat_Pipe_for_Spacecraft_Thermal_Control.tif Source: https:
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File:CFD_IsoSkin_Heat_Pipe.gif Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/CFD_IsoSkin_Heat_Pipe.gif Li-
cense: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: I created this model and CFD analysis for Wikipedia
Previously published: http://www.novelconceptsinc.com Original artist: Heatlord
File:CFD_Vapor_Chamber_Heat_Sink_Design_v1.gif Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/CFD_Vapor_
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