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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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A device including a structural member having a heat spreader and an electronic device mounted directly to a first surface of the heat spreader of the structural member. The device also includes a cold plate mounted directly to the first surface of the heat spreader of the structural member.
The functional principles and implementation of capillary pumped loop (CPL) two phase heat transport system for various elements of the Space Station program are described. Circulation of the working fluid by the surface-tension forces in a fine-pore capillary wick is the core principle of CPL systems. The liquid, usually NH3 at the moment, is changed into a vapor by heat absorption at one end of the loop, and the vapor is carrried back along the wick by the surface tension within the wick. NASA specifications and the results of mechanical and thermal tests for prototype cold plate and the capillary pump designs are outlined. The CPL is targeted for installation on free-flying platforms, attached payloads, and power subsystem thermal control systems.
Solidification within flowing medium imposing convective boundary condition on moving interface of solidifying layer
Freezing and melting of warm water flow at stagnation point over cooled plate for convective condition at solid-liquid interface
Spot-welding technique is less expensive than secondary-brazing and electron-beam methods. With procedure, standard plates can be modified in quantity for various mounting configurations without need for special tooling.
Inexpensive technique avoids high temperatures that deform thin stainless steel plates. Because repair disks have small diameters, repaired area can sustain greater loads that larger unsupported areas of faceplate.
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The coolant fluid evaporated in a compact heat absorbing panel utilizing monogroove heat pipes in a pumped two-phase system is replenished through a liquid inlet control valve under the control of an ultrasonic liquid presence detector which is connected to the panel. The detector maintains the desired liquid quantity in the panel's liquid coolant channels, thereby dynamically responding to varying heat loads.
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A research program to study the effect of enhancement devices on flow boiling heat transfer in coolant channels, which are heated either from the top side or uniformly, is discussed. Freon 11 is the working fluid involved. The specific objectives are: (1) examine the variations in both the mean and local (axial and circumferential) heat transfer coefficients for a circular coolant channel with either smooth walls or with both a twisted tape and spiral finned walls, (2) examine the effect channel diameter (and the length-to-diameter aspect ratio) variations for the smooth wall channel, and (3) develop an improved data reduction analysis.
The effects of enhancement devices on flow boiling heat transfer in circular coolant channels, which are heated over a fraction of their perimeters, are studied. The variations were examined in both the mean and local (axial, and circumferential) heat transfer coefficients for a circular coolant channel with either smooth walls or with both a twisted tape and spiral finned walls. Improvements were initiated in the present data reduction analysis. These efforts should lead to the development of heat transfer correlations which include effects of single side heat flux and enhancement device configuration. It is hoped that a stage will be set for the study of heat transfer and pressure drop in single sided heated systems under zero gravity conditions.
The use of flow boiling for thermal energy transport is intended to provide an alternative for accommodating higher heat fluxes in commercial space systems. The objectives are to: (1) examine the variations in both the mean and local (axial and circumferential) heat transfer coefficients for a circular coolant channel with either smooth walls, spiral fins, or both spiral fins and a twisted tape; (2) examine the effects of channel diameter and subcooling; and (3) develop an improved reduction analysis and/or suggest possible heat transfer correlation of the present data. Freon-11 is the working fluid. Two-dimensional (circumferential and axial) wall temperature distributions were measured for coolant channels with the above noted internal geometries. The flow regimes which are being studied are: (1) single phase; (2) subcooled flow boiling; and (3) stratified flow boiling. The inside diameter of all test sections is near 1.0 cm. Cicumferentially averaged heat transfer coefficients at several axial locations were obtained for selected coolant channels for a mass velocity of 210 kg/sq m s, an exit pressure of 0.19 MPa (absolute), and an inlet subcooling of 20.8 C. Overall (averaged over the entire channel) heat transfer coefficients were compared for the above channel geometries. This comparison showed that the channel with large pitch spiral fins had higher heat transfer coefficients at all power levels.
Future space exploration and commercialization will require more efficient heat rejection systems. For the required heat transfer rates, such systems must use advanced heat transfer techniques. Forced two phase flow boiling heat transfer with enhancements falls in this category. However, moderate to high quality two phase systems tend to require higher pressure losses. This report is divided into two major parts: (1) Multidimensional wall temperature measurement and heat transfer enhancement for top heated horizontal channels with flow boiling; and (2) Improved analytical heat transfer data reduction for a single side heated coolant channel. Part 1 summarizes over forty experiments which involve both single phase convection and flow boiling in a horizontal channel heated externally from the top side. Part 2 contains parametric dimensionless curves with parameters such as the coolant channel radius ratio, the Biot number, and the circumferential coordinate.
No abstract provided
Three modular heat-transfer components designed for use together or separately. Simple mechanical connections facilitate assembly of these and related heat-transfer components into cooling systems of various configurations, such as to cool laboratory equipment rearranged for different experiments. Components are clamp-on cold plate, cold plate attached to flexible heat pipe, and thermal-bus receptacle. Clamp-on cold plate moved to any convenient location for attachment of equipment cooled by it, then clamped onto thermal bus. Heat from equipment conducted through plate and into coolant. Thermal-bus receptacle integral with thermal bus. Includes part of thermal bus to which clamp-on cold plate attached, plus tapered socket into which condenser end of flexible heat pipe plugged. Thermal-bus receptacle includes heat-pipe wick structure using coolant in bus to enhance transfer of heat from cold plate.
A heat exchanger having a plurality of heat exchanging aluminum fins with hydrophilic condensing surfaces which are stacked and clamped between two cold plates. The cold plates are aligned radially along a plane extending through the axis of a cylindrical duct and hold the stacked and clamped portions of the heat exchanging fins along the axis of the cylindrical duct. The fins extend outwardly from the clamped portions along approximately radial planes. The spacing between fins is symmetric about the cold plates, and are somewhat more closely spaced as the angle they make with the cold plates approaches 90.degree.. Passageways extend through the fins between vertex spaces which provide capillary storage and communicate with passageways formed in the stacked and clamped portions of the fins, which communicate with water drains connected to a pump externally to the duct. Water with no entrained air is drawn from the capillary spaces.
An apparatus allows the measurement of the thermal conductance across a thin sample clamped between metal plates, including thermal boundary resistances. It allows in-situ variation of the clamping force from zero to 30 lb (133.4 N), and variation of the sample temperature between 40 and 300 K. It has a special design feature that minimizes the effect of thermal radiation on this measurement. The apparatus includes a heater plate sandwiched between two identical thin samples. On the side of each sample opposite the heater plate is a cold plate. In order to take data, the heater plate is controlled at a slightly higher temperature than the two cold plates, which are controlled at a single lower temperature. The steady-state controlling power supplied to the hot plate, the area and thickness of samples, and the temperature drop across the samples are then used in a simple calculation of the thermal conductance. The conductance measurements can be taken at arbitrary temperatures down to about 40 K, as the entire setup is cooled by a mechanical cryocooler. The specific geometry combined with the pneumatic clamping force control system and the steady-state temperature control approach make this a unique apparatus.