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Heat Pipe
A 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[6].The idea
of heat pipes was first suggested by R.S.Gaugler in1942. However, it
was not until 1962, when G.M.Grover invented it, that its remarkable
properties were appreciated & serious development began. Initialy
Grover was interested in the development of high temperature heat pipe
employing liquid metal working fluids. Shortly after Grover's
publication work was started on liquid metal heat pipes buy Dunn at
Harwell and Neu and Busse at Ispra Interest in heat pipe concept
developed rapidly both for space and terrestrial applications. Working
fluids used were melts, water, ammonia, acetone, alcohol, nitrogen and
helium. At the same time theory of heat pipe become better understood;
the most important contribution to this theoretical understanding was
the paper by Cotter in 1965.in 1969 Cheung lists 80 references; in
1970 Chishlom in his book cites 149 references, and by 1976 the Nel
Heat pipe Bibliography contained 544 references.
The third international Heat Pipe conference held
in 1978 in [5] Palo Alto, California, was sponsored by the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Sixty five papers were
included in the proceedings. Flowing the trend of approximately 3 year
intervals the fourth International Heat Pipe Conference was held in
1981 in London the proceedings contain almost 70 papers and of
particular note is the contribution made to heat pipe technology
during the past 3-4 years in Japan particularly application in to
electronics and energy conservation by 1977 it had become established
as a most useful device in mundane applications, as well as retaining
its more glamorous status in spacecraft temperature control. Seventh
International Heat Pipe Conference was held in China in 1992.
The technology of heat pipe is based on thermodynamic cycle of
evaporation and condensation. It consists of a sealed aluminum or
copper container whose inner surfaces have a capillary wicking
material [2]. The wick provides the capillary driving force to return
the condensate to the evaporator. The quality and type of wick usually
determines the performance of the heat pipe
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