A Reservoir Embedded Loop Heat Pipe (RELHP) has a liquid reservoir, located in the evaporator, to ease start-up of the LHP.
The RELHP is used for heat transfer from the experimental heat load to a deployable radiator (DPR) on the Engineering Test Satellite-VIII (Kiku-8). This DPR is one of the experimental apparatus on the Kiku-8.
The RELHP in the DPR has an evaporator, a condenser, transport lines to circulate a fluid and it utilizes the evaporation and condensation of the working fluid to transfer heat.
The DPR on the Engineering Test Satellite-VIII (Kiku-8) was launched into a geo stationary orbit by a H-IIA rocket on Dec. 18, 2006. The DPR radiator was deployed successfully and the first start-up of the RELHP in an orbital environment was conducted smoothly.
This paper describes the characteristics of the DPR and the RELHP on Kiku-8 in an orbital environment in the first year. The experiment of the DPR and RELHP with various heater inputs (100W – 400W) at the four seasons could be done smoothly, as presented. Steady-state evaporator temperatures of the RELHP with various heat loads in the first year (March 2007 – March 2008) are estimated.