This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Thermal Performance Evaluation of a Small Loop Heat Pipe for Space Applications
Technical Paper
2003-01-2688
ISSN: 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
A Small Loop Heat Pipe (SLHP) featuring a wick of only 1.27 cm (0.5 inches) in diameter has been designed for use in spacecraft thermal control. It has several features to accommodate a wide range of environmental conditions in both operating and non-operating states. These include flexible transport lines to facilitate hardware integration, a radiator capable of sustaining over 100 freeze-thaw cycles using ammonia as a working fluid and a structural integrity to sustain acceleration loads up to 30 g. The small LHP has a maximum heat transport capacity of 120 Watts with thermal conductance ranging from 17 to 21 W/°C. The design incorporates heaters on the compensation chamber to modulate the heat transport from full-on to full-stop conditions. A set of start up heaters are attached to the evaporator body using a specially designed fin to assist the LHP in starting up when it is connected to a large thermal mass. The total mass of the small Loop Heat Pipe, including the evaporator body and the radiator, is only 1.4 kg.
This paper describes the steady state and transient performance of the small LHP in four different orientations: vertical, horizontal, adverse and reflux. The tests include start up and shut off results for the four orientations at hot and cold case conditions. The results of the test program indicate that the small LHP can successfully transport moderate heat loads for many space related applications.
Authors
Citation
Pauken, M., Birur, G., Nikitkin, M., and Al-Khabbaz, F., "Thermal Performance Evaluation of a Small Loop Heat Pipe for Space Applications," SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-2688, 2003, https://doi.org/10.4271/2003-01-2688.Also In
References
- Ku J. “Operating Characteristics of Loop Heat Pipes,” SAE Paper No. 1999-01-2007 July 1999
- Maidanik Y.F. Freshwater Y.G. Solodovnik N.N. “Loop Heat Pipes: Design, Investigation, Prospects of Use in Aerospace Technics,” SAE Technical Paper Series, Paper No. 941185 April 1994
- Goncharov K.A. Nikitkin M.N. Golovin O.A. Fershtater Y.G. Maidanik Y.F. Piukov S.A. “Loop Heat Pipes in Thermal Control Systems for OBZOR Spacecraft,” 25th ICES SAE Technical Paper Series, Paper No. 951555 July 1995
- Orlov A.A. Goncharov K.A. Kotlyorov E.Y. Tyklina T.A. “The Loop Heat Pipe Experiment on board the GRAN AT Spacecraft,” 6th European Symposium on Space Environmental and Control Systems Noordwijk, Netherlands 1997
- Douglas D. Ku J. Kaya T. “Testing of the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System Prototype Loop Heat Pipe,” 37th Aerospace Science Meeting and Exhibit Paper No. AIAA 99-0473 January 1999
- Rodriguez J.I. “Thermal Design of the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer Instrument,” 30 th SAE Technical Paper Series Paper No. 2000-01-2274 Toulouse, France July 2000
- Pauken M.T. Birur G.C. Novak K.S. “A Mini Loop Heat Pipe Suitable for Mars Rovers” 12th International Heat Pipe Conference Paper A3-7 Moscow, Russia May 2002
- Long J.B. Ochterbeck J.M. Wrenn K.R. “Alternate Working Fluids for Capillary Pumped Two-Phase Systems” 12th Annual Spacecraft Thermal Control Technology Workshop El Segundo, CA Feb 28 to Mar 2, 2001