Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

An experiment is conducted to enhance the heat-transport capability of capillary assisted heat pipes with an aqueous solution of n-Butanol, and its performance is compared with that of pure water. This study uses an aqueous solution of n-Butanol having a positive surface tension gradient with temperature as a working medium with a view to accomplish an enhancement in the performance of capillary limit of heat pipe systems and operative stability. The test heat pipe is made of a copper tube with an external diameter of 22 mm, and an inner diameter of 19.6 mm. Stainless steel wick of wrapped screen structure has been used in the present study. The experiments were conducted with various heat inputs (40 W, 60 W & 80 W) and the heat pipe was kept at different inclinations of 0^o , 45^o and 90^o with horizontal. The results show that the heat-transport capability of heat pipe with the aqueous solution of n-Butanol is higher than the water heat pipe.
Keywords: Heat pipe; aqueous solution of n-Butanol; surface tension; wrapped screen.