SEMINAR

ON
“HEAT
PIPES”

PRESENTED BY:
deepaksubudhi456@gmail.co
m
 WHAT IS A HEAT PIPE

 Heat pipe is a simple device that can

quickly transfer heat from one point
to another.
 They are often referred to as the
"superconductors" of heat as they
possess an extra ordinary heat
transfer capacity & rate with almost
no heat loss.
 The idea of heat pipes was first suggested
by R.S.Gaugler in 1942.In 1963,
G.M.Grover invented its remarkable
properties & serious development began.
 CONSTRUCTION
 It consists of a sealed hollow tube
using thermoconductive metal such as
copper or aluminium.
 On the internal side of the tube's

side-walls a wick structure exerts a

capillary force.
 It is similar to a thermosyphon. The

pipe Consists of a small amount of

coolant and the rest of the pipe is filled
 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

 Three basic components of a heat

pipe are:
 the container
 the working fluid
 the wick or capillary structure
 CONTAINER
 The function of the container is
to isolate the working fluid from
the outside environment.

 It has to therefore be leak-proof,

maintain the pressure
differential across its walls, and
enable transfer of heat to take
place from and into the working
fluid.

 Selection of the container

material depends on
Compatibility (both with working
fluid and external environment)
 Working fluid
 The pipe contains a small quantity of a
"working fluid" or coolant (such as water,
ethanol or mercury) with the remainder of
the pipe being filled with vapour phase of
the working fluid.
 The materials and coolant chosen depends
on the temperature conditions in which
the heat pipe must operate, with coolants
ranging from liquid helium for extremely
low temperature applications to mercury
for high temperature conditions. However,
the vast majority of heat pipes uses either
ammonia or water as working fluid.
 Wick or Capillary Structure
 The prime purpose of the
wick is to generate capillary
pressure to transport the
working fluid from the
condenser to the
evaporator.
 This is typically a sintered
metal powder or a series of
grooves parallel to the tube
axis, but it may in principle
be any material capable of
soaking up the coolant.

Working
Inside the container is a
liquid under its own
pressure, that enters the
pores of the capillary
material, wetting all
internal surfaces.
 Applying heat at any
point along the surface of
the heat pipe causes the
liquid at that point to boil
and enter a vapor
state.When that
happens,the liquid picks
up the latent heat of
 Contd…
 The gas, which then has a higher
pressure, moves inside the sealed
container to a colder location where
it condenses.
 Thus, the gas gives up the latent
heat of vaporization and moves heat
from the input to the output end of
the heat pipe.
 Contd…
 Heat pipes have an effective
thermal conductivity many
times that of copper.
 The heat transfer or transport

capacity of a heat pipe is

Specified by its " Axial Power
Rating (APR)“.
 . It is the energy moving axially
 along the pipe. The larger the heat pipe
diameter, greater is the APR. Similarly,
longer the heat pipe lesser is the APR. Heat
pipes can be built in almost any size and
shape.
 ADVANTAGES
 The advantage of heat pipes is their great
efficiency in transferring heat. They are
actually a vastly better heat conductor
than an equivalent cross-section of solid
copper. Heat flows of more than
230MW/m^2 have been recorded (4
times the heat flow from the surface of
the sun).
 Heat pipes contain no moving parts and
typically require no maintenance.
 relatively space efficient.
 LIMITATIONS
 below a certain temperature, the
working fluid will not vaporize at all,
and the thermal conductivity will be
reduced to that of the solid metal
casing .
 When heated above a certain
temperature, all of the working fluid
in the heat pipe will vaporize and the
condensation process will cease to
occur; in such conditions thermal
conductivity will be reduced to that
 APPLICATIONS
 Heat pipes are used in a wide range of
products like air-conditioners,
refrigerators, heat exchangers, transistors,
capacitors, space staction,etc.
 Heat pipes are also used in laptops to
reduce the working temperature for better
efficiency.
 VAPIPE is recent developed heat pipe used
in a car engine to vaporise gasoline by
exhaust gases .
THANK YOU….