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The Constrained Vapor Bubble (CVB) Experiment in the Microgravity

Environment of the International Space Station

Conference Paper · January 2011

DOI: 10.2514/6.2011-1197

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 JOURNAL OF THERMOPHYSICS AND HEAT TRANSFER
Vol. 27, No. 2, April–June 2013

Constrained Vapor Bubble Heat Pipe Experiment Aboard

the International Space Station

Arya Chatterjee,∗ Joel L. Plawsky,† and Peter C. Wayner, Jr.‡

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180
David F. Chao§ and Ronald J. Sicker¶
NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44135
and
Tibor Lorik,** Louis Chestney,†† Raymond Margie,‡‡ John Eustace,§§ and John Zoldak¶¶
Zin Technologies, Cleveland, Ohio 44130
DOI: 10.2514/1.T3792
A constrained vapor bubble heat pipe experiment was run in the microgravity environment of the International
Downloaded by WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY on July 19, 2013 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/1.T3792

Space Station. Here we present the initial results that demonstrate significant differences in the operation of the
constrained vapor bubble heat pipe in the microgravity environment as compared to the Earth’s gravity. The
temperature profile data along the heat pipe indicate that the heat pipe behavior is affected favorably by increased
capillary flow and adversely by the absence of outside convective heat transfer as a heat loss mechanism. The
reflectivity pattern viewed through the transparent quartz wall documented complex microflow patterns. Image data
of the liquid profile in the grooves of the heat pipe indicate that the curvature gradient giving capillary flow is
considerably different from that on Earth. Using experimental data for the temperature and meniscus profiles, a one-
dimensional model gives the inside heat transfer coefficient, which was significantly higher in microgravity. An initial
discussion of some of the data collected is presented.

Nomenclature ρ = density, kg∕m3

A = cross-sectional area of the liquid or vapor channel, m2 σ = surface tension, N∕m
Boμ = Bond number, microregion σB = Stefan–Boltzmann constant W∕m2 K4
Bomm = Bond number, macroregion τ = shear stress, Pa
d = inside radial dimension of the square cell, m φ = corner angle
g = acceleration due to gravity, 9.8 m2 ∕s θc = contact angle
hfg = latent heat of vaporization, J∕kg
hin = inside heat transfer coefficient, W∕m2 K Subscripts
ho = outside heat transfer coefficient, W∕ m2 K
0 = at X
0
K = curvature of the liquid vapor interface, m−1
Exp = experimentally obtained values
kl = friction factor
l = liquid
L = length of the wall in contact with the fluid phase, m
Mod = model predicted values
P = measured pressure, Pa
sat = saturation properties
qe = evaporative heat flux per unit width, W∕m
s = solid
r = radius of curvature, m
v = vapor
T = temperature, K
w = with the wall, as in shear stress
U = velocity, m∕s
X = distance along axis, m
α = vertex angle
β = inclination to gravity I. Introduction
δ = film thickness, m
ε = emissivity T HE constrained vapor bubble (CVB) experiment was the first
experiment run in the Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR) aboard the
Destiny module of the International Space Station (ISS). A schematic
of the CVB heat pipe is shown in Fig. 1. The CVB is built using a
Presented as Paper 2011-1197 at the 49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences standard spectrophotometer cuvette and is partially filled with a
Conference, Orlando Florida, 4–7 January 2011; received 27 July 2011; perfectly wetting liquid, pentane in this case. The cuvette constrains
revision received 17 August 2012; accepted for publication 12 November
the vapor bubble into a roughly ellipsoidal shape and the materials of
2012; published online 14 March 2013. Copyright © 2012 by the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved. Copies of
construction result in a liquid phase separating the vapor phase from
this paper may be made for personal or internal use, on condition that the the solid phase. Because the cuvette is only partially filled, liquid can
copier pay the $10.00 per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., form a pool at one or both ends. In the Earth’s environment, this is
222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923; include the code 1533-6808/13 the end closer to the ground, because the bubble is lighter. In a
and $10.00 in correspondence with the CCC. microgravity environment the bubble should not have a preference
*arya.chatterjee@gmail.com. for either end of the cuvette under isothermal conditions. However,
†
Corresponding author; plawsky@rpi.edu. the location is very sensitive to temperature gradients.
‡
wayner@rpi.edu. One end of the cuvette is normally heated and the other end is
§
david.f.chao@nasa.gov. cooled. As soon as heat is applied to the cuvette, the vapor bubble
¶
ronald.j.sicker@nasa.gov.
**lorikt@ZIN-TECH.COM. migrates to the hot end. The liquid at the hot end evaporates and this
††
ChestneyL@ZIN-TECH.COM. increases the vapor pressure at that end. The vapor in contact with the
‡‡
margier@Zin-tech.com. liquid at the cooler end has a lower pressure and thus the vapor flows
§§
eustacej@ZIN-TECH.COM. from the hot end to the cold end. Once at the cold end, the vapor
¶¶
zoldakj@ZIN-TECH.COM. releases its latent heat and condenses to form a liquid. The liquid
309
 310 CHATTERJEE ET AL.
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Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the constrained vapor bubble heat pipe. The
system was designed to highlight the internal workings of a wickless heat
pipe and the interfacial phenomena associated with internal fluid flow.
phase forms four menisci in the four sharp corners of the cuvette and
flows in the corners from the cold end to the hot end, due to the
capillary pressure gradient. Thus, there is heat transfer via mass
transfer and because the latent heats of most substances are high, a
large amount of heat transfer can be realized using this process. The
cuvette behaves much like a fin heat exchanger [1] where increasing
the overall thermal conductivity of the fin increases the classic
fin effectiveness. However, because the thermal conductivity of
the quartz wall was low, this potential effectiveness is partially
compromised by the experimental need for a transparent wall through
which the liquid film thickness profile can be measured.
The objectives of the experiment were to study the fundamental
fluid mechanics and heat transfer processes in an ideal, wickless heat
pipe in the microgravity environment. Specifically, we were interested
in how the distribution of vapor and liquid would change in going
from Earth’s gravity to microgravity and how the changes in those
distributions would affect the flow of liquid in the corners and the heat
transfer performance of the system. The experiment is significant
because it has multiple, observable scales involved in its operation. The
macroscopic scale, or the engineering scale, is associated with the
behavior of the CVB as an ideal grooved heat pipe. The engineering
length scale is based on the relatively large inside diameter d of our cell
that is on the order of several millimeters. The physics at this scale is
affected by gravity with a macroscale Bond number Bomm defined in
Eq. (1), on the order of 0.1 on Earth. In microgravity, the Bond number
is, of course, negligible and capillary forces dominate. A large scale
promotes a large capillary flow in microgravity:
Δρgd2
Bomm

0.095 (1)
σl
The microscopic scale, or the science scale, of the experiment is
concerned with processes occurring near the three-phase contact line
region of the meniscus. Here, the length scales are based on the film
thickness δ and are on the order of microns. The micro scale Bond
number Boμ defined in Eq. (2) is negligible. Both scales are studied in
these experiments. However, the engineering scale results are
emphasized herein, whereas the more complicated science scale data
will be emphasized in future publications:
Δρgδ2
Boμ
≈ 4 × 10−9 (2)
σl
Smaller scale devices, that are essentially a CVB, have been studied
in the Earth’s environment by various researches as micro heat pipes.
Cotter [2] presented a steady state model that gave the variation in
curvature as a function of the local heat flux. Babin et al. [1]
performed an experimental investigation of a trapezoidal microheat
pipe and built a model to determine its capillary limit, which is the
maximum heat input to the heat pipe before the capillary pressure
becomes insufficient for pumping the fluid. Ha and Peterson [3] were
able to obtain an analytical expression for the prediction of the dryout
point, which is the location of the dried out region, in V-shaped micro
heat pipe grooves as a function of the applied heat flux. Khrustalev
and Faghri [4] gave a detailed solution for the heat transfer in the
evaporator and condenser and the axial fluid flow in the corners
for a triangular micro heat pipe. Longtin et al. [5] solved mass,
momentum, and energy conservation to develop a model in one
dimension. Ma et al. [6] studied the effect of the shear at the liquid-
vapor interface on the flow in the corner meniscus. Khrustalev and
Faghri [7] presented a model that took into account surface roughness
and the conduction in the solid of the capillary groove. Peterson and
Ma [8] developed a model that took into account the correction in
flow due to the shear at the liquid-vapor interface. Later, Peterson and
Ha [9] presented a simpler approach by assuming that the radius of
the liquid varies linearly with distance. Bowman et al. [10] used a
lumped inside heat transfer coefficient for the heat pipe with a vapor
core and compared its efficiency to that of a standard fin. Recently,
Suman et al. [11] have created a model for a V-grooved regular
polygonal heat pipe geometry and used that to determine the capillary
limit and dryout length of the device. An early detailed discussion of
the CVB concept and the use of the augmented Young–Laplace
equation can be found in DasGupta et al. [12] Herein, we present the
experimental data and theoretical analysis of a relatively large system
designed for microgravity.
The pressure distribution in the liquid is a function of its thickness
and curvature profiles. Under nonisothermal conditions, the curva-
ture profile is different from the isothermal (equilibrium) interface
curvature because of the phase change that occurs in the evaporating
section. In response to this phase change, the interface curvature
dynamically adjusts to increase the pressure gradient allowing
sufficient liquid to be pumped up the corner to replace the fluid that
was evaporated. Thus, an experimentally unconfirmed factor in many
theoretical studies is the axial gradient of the interfacial curvature.
Herein, the experimental measurement technique developed by the
authors and past coworkers to measure liquid film thicknesses via
interferometry filled this gap by providing this unknown. This
interferometry technique is used to provide both bulk and micro-
scopic curvatures [13]. With the curvatures known, the liquid
pressure gradient along the axial direction can be calculated and thus
the fluid flow field can be derived. Because the differential amount of
fluid flow is the amount being evaporated, the rate of heat transfer can
be calculated from the curvature data. Both temperature and
curvature profiles are measured. This approach forms the cornerstone
of our research.
The authors have studied the CVB experimentally using a cuvette
with a relatively large inside cross section (3 mm × 3 mm) and
developed models to solve for the fluid flow and heat transfer pro-
cesses occurring in the meniscus. Huang et al. [14] developed models
for the CVB in both microgravity and the Earth’s environment.
Huang et al. studied the effect of heat load on the curvature of the
corner meniscus for a cell tilted at an arbitrary angle with respect to
the vertical. Basu et al. [15] did a series of careful experiments with
empty and filled cells to determine the effect of phase change heat
transfer in the CVB setup. Basu et al. calculated the fraction of
radiative and convective losses and also did preliminary drop tower
tests to determine the effect of zero gravity on the transient shape of
the constrained bubble. Wang [16] developed an iterative model to
calculate the average inside heat transfer coefficient for the evapo-
rator section using experimental observations like the measured
temperature profile and final curvature at the top as convergence
criteria for the model. Zheng [17] derived an analytical expression for
the variation of curvature as a function of cuvette wall temperature.
Using temperature and curvature data measured experimentally,
Zheng extrapolated the model to apply to microgravity conditions. In
this paper we present data obtained from experiments conducted
 CHATTERJEE ET AL.
aboard the ISS and compare these with previously published
data obtained from experiments using the same equipment in the
Earth’s environment [18]. Finally, the experimental temperature
and curvature results are analyzed using a relatively simple one-
dimensional model to obtain average inside heat transfer coefficients
demonstrating enhanced performance in microgravity conditions.
Future multiscale analyses will include the science scale results.
II. Experimental Setup and Procedure
A. FIR/LMM/CVB Assembly
The general purpose Fluids and Combustion Facility aboard the
ISS consists of two International Standard Payload Racks, one of
which is the FIR that housed the CVB experiment. The FIR is
comprised of the Structural Subsystem, the Environmental Sub-
system, the Gas Interface Subsystem, the Electrical Subsystem, and
the Command and Data Management Subsystem. These subsystems
control all aspects of the experiment along with communications to
and from the equipment. The centerpiece of the FIR is the optics
Downloaded by WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY on July 19, 2013 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/1.T3792
bench on which the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) is mounted.
The LMM is a modified Leica RXA microscope that can be operated
remotely from Earth and provided the interference images used to
determine the shape of the vapor liquid interface within the CVB.
Figure 2 shows an overall view of the CVB system. Three main
components can be seen. The first is a Druck pressure transducer
whose range of operation was 0–350 kPa, 600 Pa. The cooler was
formed from a set of four thermoelectric devices whose temperatures
could be controlled from −15–40 °C, 0.5 °C. The electrical
resistance heater was formed using nichrome wire wrapped around a
copper shaft. The electrical power input to the heater could be
controlled from 0–3 W, in steps of 0.01 W, with an accuracy and
repeatability of 0.5%. All these elements were calibrated on the
ground prior to launch and the resolutions and accuracy specified
above, verified.
Figure 3 shows a close up of the transparent portion of the
CVB module. The dots seen along the axis of the CVB are a series
of type E thermocouples embedded 0.5 mm into the glass wall. The
thermocouples were custom manufactured using a single spool of
wire. All thermocouples were tested and calibrated to give an
accuracy and repeatability of 0.5 °C or better. Thermocouples were
located every 1.5 mm along the main axis of the CVB and positions
were known to 0.1 mm. The complete set of thermocouples could
be read every second.
B. Experiment Overview and Test Matrix
Details of the experimental apparatus are presented in Chatterjee
et al. [18] and so only a brief description will be given. The CVB
experimental system consists of a fused silica cuvette (see Fig. 1) with
the following outside dimensions: 5.5 × 5.5 × 37 mm long. The
inside channel is 3 × 3 mm in area and is closed at one end. A heater
Fig. 2 The CVB module showing key components of its design.
311
Fig. 3 Transparent portion of the CVB module showing embedded
thermocouples (dots).
attached to this end acts as the heat source. The other end is attached
to a pressure transducer and a cold finger that is attached to a set of
thermoelectric coolers embedded in a cold plate (Figs. 2 and 3). The
temperature of the cold end and the net electrical power supplied
to the heater were set to predetermined values. Thermocouples
embedded into the surface of the cuvette were used to measure the
axial temperature profile with very high accuracy, as discussed above
[18].
The system was partially filled with pentane, a fluid selected
because of its near ambient temperature boiling point and its simple
molecular structure. Pentane is a completely wetting nonpolar liquid
whose molecules interact primarily through van der Waals forces. In
the Earth’s gravitational field, the pentane forms a liquid pool at the
cold end and rises up the four corners toward the hot end due to
capillary action. Because the cuvette surface is flat and transparent,
the microscope can be used to capture reflectivity images of the fluid
on the inside surface of the cuvette. Those images provide a contour
map describing the film thickness profile. Although the most obvious
thickness is obtained at the interference fringes, theory allows us to
fill in the gaps between fringes and so the complete profile is
measured. By capturing images in a grid pattern, the entire inside
surface of the cuvette can be mapped and a composite image can be
generated. This map is then used to generate a very detailed and
revealing profile of fluid flow on the inside of the cuvette.
Because two very different scales are involved in the functioning of
the CVB heat pipe, image data was captured at these two scales. A
summary of the test matrix is provided in Table 1. The engineering
run collected image data from one entire corner of the cuvette at low
magnification. These images were acquired at a 10x magnification
with multiple images recorded at each axial location to capture the
entire visible liquid meniscus attached to the inside surface of the
cuvette. This data, along with the temperature and pressure readings,
were used to obtain an engineer’s level understanding of the working
of the CVB as a wickless heat pipe. The science run consisted of
collecting similar image data at a 50x magnification of the same
cuvette at the same conditions as the engineering run. On Earth, the
axial locations for the science run were set to be the same as that for
the engineering run. On the ISS, only eight locations were chosen due
to time constraints. Because it was not possible to predict the location
of the meniscus, multiple images were captured at each axial location
and these were stitched together to form a composite image such that
the meniscus is present in one of the frames captured or spans across
two or more of the images. Isothermal and nonisothermal data were
obtained. During the isothermal run, the heater and cooler circuits
 312 CHATTERJEE ET AL.

Table 1 Runs on the 30 mm module

Engineering run (10x data)a
1g Nonisothermal run Cooler: 15°C Image data: same as isothermal Heater: 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0 W
μg Nonisothermal run Cooler: 10°C Image data: same as isothermal Heater: 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.2, 2.0, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 2.8, 3.12 W
Science run (50x data)b
1g Nonisothermal run Cooler: 15°C Image data: same as isothermal Heater: 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0 W
μg Nonisothermal run Cooler: 10°C Image data: same as isothermal Heater: 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0 W

Although other tests using three different length modules were done, these form the test matrix that has been analyzed.
a
Isothermal run Cooler: off Heater: off Image data: 3 at each axial locations with axial location such that the entire
inside surface is captured.
b
Isothermal run Cooler: off Heater: off Image data: 6 at each axial location with axial locations such that the entire
inside surface is captured.

were turned off and the image data was acquired. Temperature and
pressure data collected during this run served to assure that the
cuvette is isothermal. After this initial run, the cooler was set to a
constant temperature and the heater was stepped up in power. After a
steady state was reached, temperature, pressure, and image data were
Downloaded by WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY on July 19, 2013 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/1.T3792
heater inputs. The profiles are markedly different due primarily to the
action of gravity. On Earth, there is no section with a flat temperature
profile whereas in microgravity there is a large section of nearly
constant temperature. A detailed examination shows that for most of
the heater settings, the CVB was able to cool the heater better in space

collected. The bulk liquid pressure was obtained using a pressure than on Earth because the heater end temperature was lower. The high
transducer. spatial resolution of the data allows the axial temperature gradient to
A typical experimental run consisted of an isothermal run followed be calculated. The temperature gradients at the heater and cooler ends
by a series of nonisothermal runs. On Earth, the vapor bubble tended give the energy flow into and out of the system at those locations. A
to stay towards the top of the heater due to buoyancy and was change in the slope of the temperature gradient indicates a change in
confined within the cuvette. In space, the vapor bubble did not the effective thermal conductivity due to the phase change process.
experience a body force and so could be located anywhere between For example, the minima in the temperature gradients at the locations
the heater and cooler ends. Generally, the bubble would attach itself denoted by the circles indicate the junctions between the evaporator
to the highest energy surface in the system. Following launch, the and condenser regions of the CVB.
bubble was not confined to the 30 mm cuvette module but was located
at a point between the cooler and pressure transducer. However, by
heating one end of the CVB and cooling the other end, the vapor
migrated into the transparent portion of the system. Once in the
transparent portion of the system, the bubble remained there under
isothermal conditions. A total of 13 sessions were run in space and 6
were run on Earth. The operations in space ran continuously for about
236 h (9.8 days), consumed about 152 kWh of energy and generated
about 20 GB of data housed in 12,000 files.

C. Remote Operations
The experiment was controlled remotely from the NASA Glenn
Research Center’s Telescience Support Center. The runs were
performed using scripts that were uploaded to the FIR system, which
then performed the experiments and acquired and stored the data. A
typical script performed the following functions:
1) Opened an experiment — created the necessary file structure in
the computers to collect the data.
2) Ramped the heater to its set point.
3) Waited for steady state to be achieved while collecting temper- Fig. 4 Temperature profile along the cuvette in Earth’s gravity (1g)
ature and pressure data at a reduced rate of data capture. environment. The circles indicate where condensation begins.
4) Verified steady-state based on the fluctuations in the readings of
three thermocouples and the pressure transducer and then increased
the temperature and pressure data acquisition rate. The fluctuations
had to be within the limits of the accuracy of the thermocouples and
pressure transducer for a valid start.
5) Acquired image data by moving the module to the required
locations and then capturing an image. In case of the 10x run the
locations were such that there was overlap between subsequent
images. In case of the 50x run, the locations where fringes were likely
to be present were read from a file.
6) Assembled the data from the thermal, pressure, and image
processing subsections of the FIR and transmitted the information to
Earth.
When oscillations occurred, video images were captured at interesting
locations that were selected based on live video of the corner meniscus.

III. Experimental Results and Discussions

A. Temperature and Pressure
Figures 4 and 5 show the temperature and temperature gradient Fig. 5 Temperature gradient profile along the cuvette in Earth’s gravity
profiles of the 30 mm module in the Earth’s environment and Figs. 6 (1g) environment. The circles indicate the minima in the slope of the
and 7 show the profiles in the microgravity environment at the same temperature gradient.
 CHATTERJEE ET AL.
Fig. 6 Temperature profile along the cuvette in μg environment. The
circles indicate where condensation begins.
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Fig. 7 Temperature gradient profile along the cuvette in μg. The circles
indicate the minima in the slope of the temperature gradient.
The liquid pool pressure measured by the pressure transducer is
also the pressure of the vapor phase of the heat pipe because the radius
of curvature at the base of the bubble is large. One would expect that
the pressure of the vapor would remain fairly constant axially. This
pressure should also be nearly equal to the vapor pressure of pentane
in the condensation region because the interfacial pressure jump is
small in this region and the cross-sectional area of the vapor is large.
To check whether the measured pressure is equivalent to the vapor
pressure of pentane at the condensation point in the cell, we took the
temperature profiles in Figs. 4 and 6 and differentiated them to
produce the curves in Figs. 5 and 7. The minima of the curves in
Figs. 5 and 7 were defined to be the cuvette locations where
condensation began and so the measured CVB temperatures at those
points corresponded to the saturation temperatures for pentane.
These temperatures were fed into the Antoine equation, Eq. (3), to
calculate the corresponding pentane vapor pressure:
B cuvette were collected using an automated, mapping script that
log10 psat
A − (3)
TC
A, B and C are constants (given in Table 2) and T is the temperature
in °C.
Table 2 Parameters for the Antoine Equation
Antoine equation coefficients Validity range
Material A B C T min , °C T max , °C
Pentane 7.00877 1134.15 238.678 −129.73 196.5
313
Fig. 8 Pressure measured by the transducer compared with the
pressure corresponding to the beginning of the condenser region of the
heat pipe: Earth’s gravity (1g) environment.
Fig. 9 Pressure measured by the transducer compared with the
pressure corresponding to the beginning of the condenser region of the
heat pipe: μg environment.
The vapor pressures obtained using Eq. (3) and the temperatures
based on Figs. 5 and 7 were compared with the actual, measured
pressures. The results are shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The agreement
between the calculated and measured pressures is very good and
show that the locations where the temperatures were found to
correspond to the locations where condensation first begins in the
cell. Note that the heat pipe operates at a much higher pressure in
microgravity than on Earth. This is because the temperature of the
condenser region is higher. In space, the only heat loss mechanism is
radiation, thus the condenser portion of the heat pipe needs to operate
at a higher temperature/pressure to reject sufficient heat to the
surroundings. This leads to the conclusion that in space, the
condenser region begins at a point much closer to the heater than it
would on Earth.
B. Image Data and Analysis
To gain additional insights into fluid flow within the CVB, 10x
reflectivity data of the liquid film profile on the inside surface of the
moves the CVB assembly relative to the microscope objective. The
10x magnification was used initially because it provides a higher
depth of field. This eliminated the need to refocus the microscope
upon moving to a new location. Because the location of the corner
meniscus could not be predicted a priori, sufficient images were taken
so that more than half of the entire inside surface of the cuvette facing
the microscope could be mapped. This was done by recording three
(or more) consecutive images at each axial location. The images from
the three locations were then stitched together to form a composite
image. However, some of the images had to have their contrast
corrected before they could be used. For this, the adaptive histogram
equalization technique was used [19]. The images were stitched
 314 CHATTERJEE ET AL.
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Fig. 10 Formation of a typical composite image showing various zones
corresponding to the CVB schematic. The composite on the left is
magnified relative to the cross section on the right.
together using Smartblend [20], software that is based on a pyramid
algorithm [21]. Such composites at each axial location were then
further stitched together to create a composite image of the entire
inside surface of the cuvette. Figure 10 shows the composite image
generated for a typical run. The junctions of the images are visible in
the composites. The fringes indicate that the thickness profile is
complicated.
Figure 11 shows the relationship between the local interface
curvature of the corner meniscus and the projected length of the
meniscus on the solid surface. The interface curvature at a given axial
location is given by


1 1
K
− (4)
rtv rax
where rax is the radius of curvature in the axial direction and ttv is
radius of curvature in the perpendicular (transverse) direction.
Assuming that the local interface curvature of the corner meniscus
surface has a relatively low component along the axial direction (rax
is large), it can be shown that the major portion of the meniscus
resembles a circle of radius rtv intersecting a right-angle with the two
arms of the angle being tangent to the circle. This is sufficiently
accurate for perfectly wetting fluids where the apparent contact angle
is small and close to zero. Then it is easy to see that the length of the
wetted surface is equal to the radius of the circle and thus the inverse
of the circle gives the curvature of the liquid-vapor interface. For now,
Fig. 11 The corner meniscus for a perfectly wetting fluid (where the
contact angle is 0) can be imagined to be a circle touching the side walls.
this is a straightforward way to determine the approximate interface
curvature of the meniscus using low magnification data. The exact
details of the more complex two-dimensional curvature and curvature
gradient will be determined in the future using the higher
magnification data obtained at 50x.
C. Composite Profiles in Earth’s Gravity
Figure 12 shows reconstructed images from the 30 mm module in
the Earth’s gravity. As with the temperature profile, the various zones
can be identified from the contour map and the one-dimensional axial
curvature profile can be determined. These results are used below to
complement the temperature data in the one-dimensional analysis
of the data. However, even with a 10x magnification, additional
complex flow patterns can be observed. For example, the composite
image for the 1.2 W heater input shows several discontinuities that
occur due to meniscus oscillations. Depending on whether the
meniscus was in its receded or advanced position when the particular
frame of the mapping was captured, the meniscus appears discon-
tinuous. The presence of the oscillations was later confirmed using
50x imaging at a particular location and capturing the video. In
addition, the presence of a drop of fluid is obvious. This was
discussed extensively in [17]. Even though the cuvette was filled with
99.99% pure fluid, the presence of these complex features suggests
some component separation was occurring. Therefore, the drop could
be the result of temperature and/or concentration induced Marangoni
flow. As discussed by Parks and Wayner [22], there is a significant
range of temperatures and concentrations over which surface shear
enhances liquid flow towards the heat source. Besides the usual
regions of condensation and evaporation, the drop can be viewed as a
third region with complex Marangoni flow. The fluid returned from
the ISS was analyzed to determine if it was of the same purity as when
it was first loaded into the CVB. No significant differences were
found after flight. Thus the CVB acts as a very efficient separation
device. Because of this complication, an initial description of these
images will be provided herein and additional results will be
published after further analyses of the fluid flow field using the
two-dimensional image data obtained at 50x. We note that one-
dimensional data such as the axial temperature and axial curvature
gradients are sufficient to describe the engineering level heat transfer
characteristics of the system. The additional visual observations
document the surface conditions.
The images in Fig. 12 clearly show both the evaporator and
condenser regions of the device. Regions where the contour map is
most obvious indicate that significant condensation is occurring and
Fig. 12 A 30 mm module in the Earth’s (1g) environment. The
individual images captured were a little misaligned, thus they appear
staggered.
 CHATTERJEE ET AL.
that the film thickness there is changing rapidly. The beginning of the
condenser, as indicated by the white arrows that can be seen shifting
slowly towards the cooler end as the heater power is increased. By
knowing the exact location where the images were taken, we can
determine that the condenser region started at the 23 mm location
(relative to the heater end), a position very close to the location
determined from the temperature measurements. The central drop
location is shown by the yellow arrows. As confirmed using the
module with a 20 mm length, the drop migrated to the cooler end with
increasing heater power. In this 30 mm module, the drop started at a
location approximately 6 mm from the heater end at an input power of
0.2 W and traveled down the cuvette to a location just beyond 16 mm
by the time the heater power reached 2 W.
D. Composite Profile in Microgravity
The 30 mm module behaved very differently in the microgravity
environment of the ISS (see Fig. 13). The condenser region (white
arrows) started much closer to the heater end because the overall
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pressure in the CVB was higher, allowing condensation to occur at a
higher temperature relative to the surroundings. The heater end was
always flooded with liquid and seemed to be supplied with liquid
from the corner meniscus via flows (probably Marangoni) on the
surface of the glass for lower heater powers. There was no heater
input power that was sufficient to dry out the heater end. In fact, as can
be seen from the images, as the heater power increased, more and
more fluid accumulated at the heater end, suggesting that there may
have been a second component distilling in the CVB and collecting at
the heater end. Eventually at the higher input powers, the liquid
velocity reached a point where it flowed into the liquid pool with such
inertia that it folded over and formed a liquid mass on the glass
surface. The junction point where this occurred, as indicated by the
rectangle at the 1.20 W heater input in Fig. 13, showed violent fluid
motions when imaged at 50x. Eventually a drop of fluid, reminiscent
of the drop observed in Fig. 12, formed on the surface of the cuvette
and the location migrated towards the cooler end as the power
increased. These visual observations enhance the understanding of
the analyses given below.
The location of the condensing region did not monotonically
approach the condenser end as the heater power was increased but
appears to have approached the heater end first before being driven
back toward the condenser end. Over a fairly wide range of heater
powers (0.6–1.6 W), the onset of condensation occurred at
approximately the 10 mm location, which agrees very well with the
data obtained from the temperature profiles and with the Antoine
equation derived temperature associated with the measured operating
pressure of the CVB.
Fig. 13 A 30 mm module in microgravity (μg). The rectangle shows the
location of the fluid from the meniscus meeting the liquid pool at the top.
315
Fig. 14 Radius of curvature from the Young–Laplace equation
compared to the experimental value measured in the Earth’s gravity (1g)
environment.
IV. Analysis Using a One-Dimensional Model
A. Isothermal Profile in 1g: Young–Laplace Equation Verification
The experimentally measured radius of curvature profile for the
corner meniscus under isothermal conditions in the Earth’s gravity is
shown in Fig. 14. To verify that the measurement technique and
radius of curvature extraction algorithm was accurate, the results
were compared with predictions from the Young–Laplace equation
for the thicker portion of the meniscus. The Young–Laplace equation
is
σl
pv − pl
(5)
r
where pv is the pressure in the vapor, pl is the pressure in the liquid,
σ l is the surface tension of the liquid (assumed constant, though the
authors acknowledge that in the microgravity environment,
thermocapillary effects would be significant), and r is the radius of
curvature of the meniscus at the axial location, X. We can differentiate
both sides of Eq. (5) to give:
dpv dpl σ dr
−
− 2l (6)
dX dX r dX
For the isothermal case, the pressure in the vapor can be assumed
constant (the vapor density is negligible compared to liquid density),
while the variation of the pressure in the liquid is only due to
hydrostatics. Thus, Eq. (6) can be integrated directly to give the radius
of curvature profile
1
r
(7)
ρl gXσ l0 −X  r10 
where r0 is the radius at an arbitrary reference axial location X0 .
Figure 14 shows excellent agreement between the measured
isothermal profile and the theoretical value. The noise in the data is
due to random errors associated with the image stitching routine.
Figure 15 shows the curvature profiles obtained using the above
techniques for a heat input of 0.2 Won Earth and in microgravity. The
difference in magnitude and shape of the profile is a direct conse-
quence of the removal of the gravitational force and demonstrates the
enhanced liquid flow that occurs in the microgravity environment.
B. Fluid Flow and Temperature Modeling
Here we present a one-dimensional fluid flow model coupled with
a one-dimensional heat transfer model for the solid walls of the CVB.
The relation between the pressure in the liquid and vapor phases is
given by Eq. (6). The equation for the conservation of mass for the
liquid phase is
dAl du q
ρ l ul  ρl Al l − e
0 (8)
dX dX hfg
 316 CHATTERJEE ET AL.

These ordinary differential equations (6) and (8–13) are subjected

to the following boundary conditions

rjX
0
r0
ul jX
0
0 uv jX
0
0
σ
pl jX
0
psat − l pv jX
0
psat (14)
r0

Fig. 15 Curvature profiles along the main axis of the CVB in
microgravity and Earth’s gravity (1g) for a heat input of 0.2 W.
and for vapor phase is:
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where r0 is the radius at the top of the cuvette and psat is the saturation
vapor pressure of pentane at the experimentally measured
temperature of the condenser region. The pressure of the vapor
remains almost constant because of the large volume of the bubble, as
compared to the liquid channel in the corner meniscus. The initial
pressure in the liquid is given by the pressure in the vapor less the
capillary tension due to surface tension.
Applying conservation of energy in one dimension over the wall of
glass cell gives

dAv du q d2 T
ρv uv  ρv Av v  e
0 (9) ks As
hin pi T − T v   ho po T − T ∞   σ B εpo T 4 − T 4∞ 
dX dX hfg dX2
(15)
Here ul is the axial liquid velocity, uv is the axial velocity of the vapor,
Al is the area of the liquid cross section, Av is the area of the vapor where ks is the conductivity of the solid (quartz), As is the cross-
cross section, and X is the axial direction. Because the cross section of sectional area of the cuvette solid (5.5 mm × 5.5 mm − 3 mm
the cuvette is square and also constant (3 mm × 3 mm), the area of ×3 mm), and hin is the evaporative inside heat transfer coefficient
the vapor can be calculated by subtracting the measured area of the from the wetted perimeter pi while ho is the outside heat transfer
liquid from this constant. Here qe is the evaporative or condensation coefficient and T is the temperature of the quartz. The radiation is
heat flux, and hfg is the latent heat of vaporization of pentane. The accounted for in the σ B ε term, where σ B is the Stefan–Boltzmann
value of A1 comes from geometric considerations and is given by constant and ε is the emissivity of quartz. Here T ∞ is the temperature
A1
2C1 r2 with: of the ambient. Because the evaporation occurs to the vapor
environment, T v is the temperature associated with the vapor phase. It
is calculated from the pressure measurement using the inverse form of
sinα sinϕ2 
Cl
− ϕ  sinϕ (10) the Antoine equation. Equation (15) is a second-order, nonlinear
sin2 α2 ordinary differential equation that can be solved by collocation
methods using the bvp4c algorithm in MATLAB®. The relevant
Here α is the vertex angle of the groove, π∕2 in our case, and boundary conditions are a known temperature at each end:
ϕ
π∕2 − 2θc where θc is the contact angle, assumed to be zero
here. Relative to axial flow in the bulk meniscus, axial flow in TjX
0
T 1 TjX
L
T 2 (16)
extremely thin flat film is presumed to be small and neglected.
The equations for the conservation of momentum in the liquid and The rate of energy transferred per unit axial length from/to the wall for
vapor phases are phase change qe can be determined using Eq. (17), which is used in
Eqs. (8) and (9). Because qe changes sign depending on evaporation
dpl dA du or condensation, the location where qe
0 marks the location of the
Al  ρl gAl sinβ  ρl u2l l  2ρl Al ul l − Ll;w τl;w
0
dX dX dX beginning of the condenser region:
(11)
qe
hin pi T − T v  (17)
and:
Equations (6), (8), (9), (11), (12) and (15) were solved for r, Ul , Uv ,
dp dA du Pv , Pl , and T for a range of hin ’s such that the error between the
Av v  ρv gAv sinβ  ρv u2v v  2ρv Av uv v − Lv;w τv;w
0 measured radius of curvature and the temperature from the model and
dX dX dX
(12) the experiment was minimized in the least square sense:

Here g is the acceleration due to gravity, β is the inclination of the
cuvette with respect to the horizontal (π∕2 for our vertically aligned
case), τv;w is the wall shear stress for the liquid, Ll;w is the surface
of the wall in contact with the liquid, and τl;w and Lv;w are the
corresponding quantities for the vapor phase. The interphase shear
stress has been neglected.
The shear stress at the wall is based on a friction factor description
and is given by
klf Ll;wμl
τl;w
(13)
16Al ρl
where klf is the friction factor for the liquid and is equal to 13.1, as
given by Ayyaswamy et al. [23]. A similar equation exists for the
vapor phase with a friction factor equal to 15.1 for a square cross
section. Here it is assumed that the small area occupied by the liquid
meniscus at the corner deforms the shape of the square very little.
hin ∶ minkT Mod − T Exp k2  krMod − rExp k2
hin
X

min fT Mod − T Exp 2  rMod − rExp 2 g (18)
hin
i
C. Comparison of Model and Experimental Results for the Earth’s
Environment
Figure 16 shows the results for the radius of curvature r and the
temperature T for the 30 mm module in the Earth’s environment for
the 0.60 W heater power input. The radius from the model passes
through the experimental value. This was possible with an r0 such
that a reasonable radius profile was obtained. However, as discussed
above, Fig. 16a also shows that there was a discontinuity due to the
presence of a central drop that is visible near the 15 mm axial location.
Therefore, the one-dimensional model cannot replicate this region
because there is a complex two-dimension flow pattern. The theoret-
ical temperature profile agrees much better with the experimental
 CHATTERJEE ET AL. 317
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Fig. 18 Comparison of the model with the experiment for the a) radius
Fig. 16 Comparison of the model with the experiment for the a) radius
of curvature and b) temperature for the 30 mm module in microgravity.
of curvature and b) temperature for the 30 mm module in Earth’s gravity
(1g).
interesting to note that the unique shape of the temperature profile,
with a flat region in the center was replicated in the model. Figure 19
value. The location of the condenser from the model and from the
shows the calculated pressures and the velocities in the liquid and the
temperature at which the vapor pressure of pentane is equal to the
vapor. As in the case of the Earth’s environment, the pressure in the
vapor pressure measure by the pressure transducer compare well. We
vapor phase does not change by a large amount although the pressure
conclude that the positive temperature comparison demonstrates that
in the liquid phase varies considerably. Relative to the results in the
these results accurately describe the operation of this particular
Earth’s environment, the velocities in microgravity are much larger in
system.
the vapor and liquid phase, indicating that the fluid is encountering
Figure 17 gives the pressure and velocity from the model. The
less flow resistance.
vapor pressure in Fig. 17a remains almost constant as expected from
The fit to the temperature profile in microgravity is as good as it is
the large vapor volume. The liquid pressure is lower near the heater
in Earth’s gravity and the fit to the radius of curvature profile is also
end indicating the direction of the liquid flow. Figure 17b shows the
good until about 25 mm from the heater wall. This is about the
velocity profile in the liquid and vapor phase. The sign of the velocity
location where the liquid pool resides. The velocity profiles in
indicates the direction of flow. The velocities are in the mm∕s range
Fig. 19b follow the expected trends. Both velocities start out at zero at
signifying that liquid covers the length of the cuvette in about 10 s.
the heater. The magnitudes of the vapor and liquid velocities both
reach a maximum at the point where condensation first begins in the
D. Comparison of Model and Experimental Results for Microgravity cell. Thereafter the magnitudes of both velocities decrease as one
Figure 18 shows the radius r and the temperature T for the 30 mm approaches the liquid pool. Because we fit the entire temperature
module in microgravity for the 0.80 W heater power input. The profile, we also calculate velocities over the entire range of the cell,
agreement with the radius is acceptable although agreement with the however the model is not capable of handling the three-dimensional
temperature, like the Earth-based system, is much better. It is flow field of the liquid inside the liquid pool or determining where the

Fig. 17 a) Pressure and b) velocity from the model for the 30 mm module Fig. 19 a) Pressure and b) velocity from the model for the 30 mm in
in Earth’s gravity (1g). microgravity.
 318 CHATTERJEE ET AL.
Fig. 20 Inside heat transfer coefficients vs heater power input.
vapor bubble ceases to exist, and so beyond about 25 mm the
velocities are aphysical.
E. Inside Heat Transfer Coefficient
The optimized values of the inside heat transfer coefficients hin for
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the surface of the liquid calculated from the model are plotted in
Fig. 20 for both the 1g and μg cases. As expected the heat transfer
coefficients in microgravity are much higher than on Earth. The
enhanced fluid flow results in more liquid available for evaporation.
The evaporative heat transfer coefficients on Earth compared favor-
ably with the values obtained by Wang [15]. Heat transfer coefficients
could not be calculated from Earth-based data beyond a heat input of
0.8 W because the meniscus began oscillating and our imaging
camera was not fast enough to stop the motion so we could get
reliable curvature measurements. Additional two-dimensional ana-
lyses using 50x data are in progress to improve the accuracy of the
modeling.
Overall, for the wickless design studied here, at the scale used in
these experiments, the modeling would be adequate to design a heat
pipe for microgravity operation. The system was controlled by
thermal radiation to the surroundings so that the aspect of the
modeling might be the most challenging. We did not expect that it
would be so hard to dry out the heater end in microgravity, nor did
we expect how much impact launch forces would have on the
distribution of vapor inside the system and how much effort would be
required during start up procedures for such a simple design. Finally,
we note that the efficiency of the CVB as a fin heat exchanger was not
optimized because the system was designed primarily to obtain the
temperature and liquid film profiles. The solid thermal conductivity
and the number of contact lines per cross-sectional area both need to
be optimized for best performance.
V. Conclusions
The following conclusions can be made:
1) Heat pipe temperature and pressure profiles measured in
microgravity were significantly different from those measured in the
Earth’s environment. There was a flat isothermal region observed in
microgravity that was absent on Earth and the heat pipe operates at
higher pressure and higher condensation temperature than on Earth.
2) The vapor pressure of pentane calculated from the measured
temperature at the observed junction of the condensation and
evaporation regions agreed well with the measured operating
pressure. Thus the heat pipe operates at a pressure equivalent to the
vapor pressure of the operating fluid at the temperature where the heat
pipe switches from active evaporation to active condensation.
3) The temperature profile indicated that the heat pipe behavior is
affected favorably by increased capillary flow and adversely by the
absence of outside convective heat transfer as a heat loss mechanism.
4) The value of the average inside interfacial heat transfer coeffi-
cient was an order of magnitude higher in microgravity due to a much
larger liquid flow rate. In microgravity, the wickless system used
in this work was controlled by radiative heat transfer to the sur-
roundings.
5) A one-dimensional transport model was developed to predict
the radius of curvature and temperature as a function of axial distance.
The temperature profile agreed well with the measured profile.
Sufficient data were obtained to describe the engineering level
characteristics of the system on Earth and in microgravity.
6) Because the visually observed complicated nature of liquid flow
near a condensed drop, the agreement between the measured and
calculated values of the meniscus radius varied with location.
Heat transfer coefficients extracted using the fin and fluid flow
models differed by an order of magnitude. A more extensive two-
dimensional numerical analysis of fluid flow using the 50x data
along with additional chemical analysis of the fluid in the constrained
vapor bubble are needed to completely describe the science level
characteristics of the system. Contrary to what was expected, it was
not possible to dry out the heater end of the heat pipe in microgravity
even at heat inputs 1.5x more than those run on Earth. Dryout might
still be possible but safety constraints prevented running at heat
inputs higher than 3.2 W.
Acknowledgment
This material is based on the work supported by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant No.
NNX09AL98G. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the
authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of NASA.
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