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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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Ultra-high-molecular-weight material compatible with efficient heat-transfer fluids. New wick material for heat pipes first physically and chemically compatible with chlorofluoromethanes, chlorofluoroethanes, and ammonia. Allows one of these refrigerants to be used as working fluid in capillary-pump heat-pipe loop for cooling electronic equipment.
This paper summarizes the 'state-of-the-art' of axially grooved heat pipes. Applications are identified and the related heat pipe design and performance are defined. Recent developments in the analysis, design and fabrication of axially grooved hardware are also discussed. A mathematical model which predicts the hydrodynamic behavior and accounts for liquid recession, liquid/vapor shear interaction and 1-g puddle flow is also presented. Performance data for various fluids in the 100-500 K range is compared to predictions from the Groove Analysis Program (GAP). Finally, a simplified closed form solution which accounts for gravity effects, self-priming and composite pumping by the grooves as well as all of the hydrodynamic losses is also discussed.
Some of the advanced thermal management techniques used to reduce operating junction temperature under extreme environmental temperature conditions are discussed. Heat pipes in actual electronic packaging applications, and those under development, are discussed. Performance characteristics of heat pipes are given, and examples are described of how thermal problems in electronic packaging are solved through the use of heat pipes.
A heat pipe design is offered that utilizes an auxiliary working fluid. The fluid, although being less efficient than the main working fluid, remains liquid at low heat loads when the main working fluid freezes.
This investigates the effects of implementing Heat Pipe Turbine Vane (HPTV) cooling in the NASA N+3 engine. The HPTV can be thought of as a heat pipe in the shape of a turbine vane, functioning as both an aerodynamic body and heat exchanger. The heat-absorbing section of the HPTV remains fixed in the vanes of the high pressure turbine (HPT), while the heat-rejecting section can be placed in any stage of the low pressure turbine (LPT) as well as the bypass stream. The optimal location of the condensing (heat-rejecting) section is shown to be in the bypass stream for both HPT stages. The thrust specific fuel consumption increased by 0.2%, which is mainly attributed to the elimination of air cooling in the second stage HPT vanes combined with the transfer of energy from the main gas path to elsewhere in the cycle. Air cooling is also eliminated in the first stage HPT vanes, but this cooling air is nonchargeable. A preliminary design is proposed and shown to demonstrate the desired performance and operates below all the heat flux limitations in the first stage HPT . The design in the second stage HPT exceeds a limiting phenomenon but is expected to be remedied by changing the working fluid.
An approximate theoretical model is derived for laminar film condensation on the inside of a rotating, truncated cone, and is used to predict the heat transfer performance of rotating, non-capillary heat pipes for a wide variety of parametric conditions. Experimental results are presented for water, ethyl alcohol, and freon-113 in a stainless steel heat pipe rotating to speeds of 2800 rpm. Results show that these devices can be used effectively to transfer large quantities of heat in rotating systems. Predicted results agree to within + or - 20 percent of the experimental data. Dropwise condensation, instead of film condensation, improves heat pipe performance while the presence of non-condensible gases impairs performance.
The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) Detector Array is thermally well coupled to eight constant conductance heat pipes (CCHPs) embedded in the Detector Array Plate PAP), and two loop heat pipes (LHPs) transport heat from the CCHPs to a radiator. The CCHPs have ammonia as the working fluid and the LHPs have propylene as the working fluid. Precision heater controllers, which have adjustable set points in flight, are used to control the LHP compensation chamber and Detector Array xA1 ASIC temperatures. The radiator has AZ-Tek's AZW-LA-II low solar absorptance white paint as the thermal coating, and is located on the anti-sun side of the spacecraft. A thermal balance (T/B) test on the BAT was successfully completed. It validated that the thermal design satisfies the temperature requirements of the BAT in the flight thermal environments. Instrument level and observatory level thermal vacuum (TN) cycling tests of the BAT Detector Array by using the LHP thermal system were successfully completed. This paper presents the results of the T/B test and T N cycling tests.
Internal gas slugs reduced or eliminated. Manufacturing method increases efficiency of aluminum heat pipes in which ammonia is working fluid by insuring pipe filled with nearly pure charge of ammonia. In new process heat pipe initially closed with stainless-steel valve instead of weld so pipe put through several cycles of filling, purging, and accelerated aging.
This paper investigates the effects of implementing Heat Pipe Turbine Vane (HPTV) cooling in the NASA N+3 engine. The HPTV can be thought of as a heat pipe in the shape of a turbine vane, functioning as both an aerodynamic body and heat exchanger. The heat-absorbing section of the HPTV remains fixed in the vanes of the high pressure turbine (HPT), while the heat-rejecting section can be placed in any stage of the low pressure turbine (LPT) as well as the bypass stream. The optimal location of the condensing (heat-rejecting) section is shown to be in the bypass stream for both HPT stages. The thrust specific fuel consumption increased by 0.2%, which is mainly attributed to the elimination of air cooling in the second stage HPT vanes combined with the transfer of energy from the main gas path to elsewhere in the cycle. Air cooling is also eliminated in the first stage HPT vanes, but this cooling air is nonchargeable. A preliminary design is proposed and shown to demonstrate the desired performance and operates below all the heat flux limitations in the first stage HPT . The design in the second stage HPT exceeds a limiting phenomenon but is expected to be remedied by changing the working fluid.
Paints containing thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC's) used to map temperatures on heat pipes and thermosyphons. Color of thermally sensitive TLC coat changes reversibly upon heating or cooling. Each distinct color indicates particular temperature. Transient and steady-state isotherms become visible as colored bands. Positions and movements of bands yield information about startup transients, steady-state operation, cooler regions containing noncondensible gas, and other phenomena relevant to performance of heat pipe.
A thermionic converter module simulating a configuration for an out-of-core thermionic nuclear reactor was designed, fabricated, and tested. The module consists of three cylindrical thermionic converters. The tungsten emitter of the converter is heated by a tungsten, lithium heat pipe. The emitter heat pipes are immersed in a furnace, insulated by MULTI-FOIL thermal insulation, and heated by tungsten radiation filaments. The performance of each thermionic converter was characterized before assembly into the module. Dynamic voltage, current curves were taken using a 60 Hz sweep and computerized data acquisition over a range of emitter, collector, and cesium-reservoir temperatures. An output power of 215 W was observed at an emitter temperature of 1750 K and a collector temperature of 855 K for a two diode module. With a three diode module, an output power of 270 W was observed at an average emitter temperature of 1800 K and a Collector temperature of 875 K.
Design concepts for small Fission Power Systems (FPS) have shown that heat pipe cooled reactors provide a passive, redundant, and lower mass option to transfer heat from the fuel to the power conversion system, as opposed to pumped loop designs typically associated with larger FPS. Although many systems have been conceptually designed and a few making it to electrically heated testing, none have been coupled to a real nuclear reactor. A demonstration test named DUFF Demonstration Using Flattop Fission, was planned by the Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) to use an existing criticality experiment named Flattop to provide the nuclear heat source. A team from the NASA Glenn Research Center designed, built, and tested a heat pipe and power conversion system to couple to Flattop with the end goal of making electrical power. This paper will focus on the design and testing performed in preparation for the DUFF test.
A research and development program in variable conductance heat pipe technology is reported. The project involved: (1) theoretical and/or experimental studies in hydrostatics, (2) hydrodynamics, (3) heat transfer into and out of the pipe, (4) fluid selection, and (5) materials compatibility. The development, fabrication, and test of the space hardware resulted in a successful flight of the heat pipe experiment on the OAO-3 satellite. A summary of the program is provided and a guide to the location of publications on the project is included.
A gas-loaded variable conductance heat pipe of stainless steel with methanol working fluid identical to one now on the CTS satellite was life tested in the laboratory at accelerated conditions for 14 200 hours, equivalent to about 70 000 hours at flight conditions. The noncondensible gas inventory increased about 20 percent over the original charge. The observed gas increase is estimated to increase operating temperature by about 2.2 C, insufficient to harm the electronic gear cooled by the heat pipes in the satellite. Tests of maximum heat input against evaporator elevation agree well with the manufacturer's predictions.
In this work, additively manufactured aluminum nitride (AlN) ceramic heat pipes are developed to improve spacecraft heat rejection capabilities beyond the current state-of-the-art metal systems. Printed AlN parts are characterized via SEM, EDS, X-ray diffraction, optical profilometry, thermal conductivity, and emissivity testing. AlN 3D-printed parts are also tested for compatibility with aluminum bromide, aluminum chloride, and iodine, among other proposed working fluids at 500-600 K in vacuum.
The cancellation of the TDRS-B satellite as the payload for the eighth Space Shuttle mission provided a unique opportunity to demonstrate on-orbit operation of the high-capacity monogroove heat pipe used in the space constructible radiator subsystem. In less than 4 months, a flight experiment was conceived, designed, fabricated, tested, integrated with a payload carrier, installed in the Orbiter Challenger payload bay, and successfully operated in flight. Still color photographs and direct crew visual observation of color changes in a pattern of temperature-sensitive liquid-crystal tapes provided the temperature data necessary to verify successful on-orbit startup and orbital transient response of the heat pipe when subjected to a heat load from its attached electrical heaters. This successful on-orbit demonstration verified analytical design tools and provided confidence in the use of high-capacity heat pipes for future space applications. The flight experiment hardware and the integration and test activities that led to the flight are described, and the actual flight results are compared to analytical performance predictions.
The technology involved in designing and fabricating a heat pipe thermal conditioning panel to satisfy a broad range of thermal control system requirements on NASA spacecraft is discussed. The design specifications were developed for a 30 by 30 inch heat pipe panel. The fundamental constraint was a maximum of 15 gradient from source to sink at 300 watts input and a flux density of 2 watts per square inch. The results of the performance tests conducted on the panel are analyzed.
Use of heat pipes for electrical isolation