EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION OF A CAPILLARY PUMPED LOOPWITH A POROUS ELEMENT IN THE CONDENSER

A new CPL design is investigated experimentally and theoretically. In order to create a fixed physical interface between the liquid and the vapor phases inside the loop, the conventional tube condenser is repla ced by a condenser containing a porous wick structure. The idea is to have a simple, light, and reliable system directed to applications whe re a high heat-transport capacity over long distances is needed, but a precise temperature control of the cold plate is not required. Experi mental results, under different test conditions, are presented and ill ustrate the overall performance of the system. A CPL mathematical mode l, based on the nodal method is described and validated experimentally . (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd