Thermal Performance of High Temperature Titanium – Water Heat Pipes by Multiple Heat Pipe Manufacturers
Abstract. Titanium - water heat pipes are being investigated for use in heat rejection systems for lunar and Mars fission surface power systems. Heat pipes provide an efficient and reliable means to transfer heat to a radiator heat rejection system. NASA Glenn Research Center requisitioned nine titanium water heat pipes from three vendors. Each vendor supplied three heat pipes 1.25 cm diameter by 1.1 meter long with each vendor selecting a different wick design. Each of the three heat pipes is slightly different in construction. Additional specifications for the heat pipes included 500 K nominal operating temperature, light weight, and freeze tolerance. The heat pipes were performance tested gravity-aided, in the horizontal position and at elevations against gravity at 450 K and 500 K. Performance of the three heat pipes is compared. The heat pipe data will be used to verify models of heat pipe radiators that will be used in future space exploration missions.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20070010765 2020-03-04T08:16:52+00:00Z
Gle
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Ther
mal
Per
form
ance
of H
igh
Tem
pera
ture
Tita
nium
–
Wat
er H
eat P
ipes
by
Mul
tiple
Hea
t Pip
e M
anuf
actu
rers
Pres
ente
d at
the
2007
Spa
ce T
echn
olog
y an
d In
tern
atio
nalF
orum
Febr
uary
200
7A
lbuq
uerq
ue, N
M
Jam
es S
anzi
Sest
, Inc
.M
iddl
ebur
g H
eigh
ts, O
H
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ter a
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st, I
nc.
•Ti
tani
um -
wat
er h
eat p
ipes
are
bei
ng in
vest
igat
ed
for u
se in
hea
t rej
ectio
n sy
stem
s fo
r lun
ar a
nd
Mar
s fis
sion
sur
face
pow
er s
yste
ms.
•N
ASA
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Cen
ter r
equi
sitio
ned
nine
tit
aniu
m w
ater
hea
t pip
es fr
om th
ree
vend
ors.
•Th
e he
at p
ipes
wer
e pe
rfor
man
ce te
sted
gra
vity
ai
ded,
in th
e ho
rizon
tal p
ositi
on a
nd a
t ele
vatio
ns
agai
nst g
ravi
ty a
t 450
K a
nd 5
00 K
.
Gle
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Jupi
ter
Icy
Moo
n O
rbite
r (J
IMO
) Con
cept
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Se
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nc.
Hea
t Pip
es In
tegr
ated
in H
eat R
ejec
tion
Rad
iato
r Pa
nel
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Wha
t is
a H
eat P
ipe?
Illu
stra
tion
of a
Cap
illar
y T
wo-
Phas
e H
eat T
rans
fer
Dev
ice-
a H
eat P
ipe
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st, I
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Wha
t is
a H
eat P
ipe?
•A h
eat p
ipe
in it
s si
mpl
est f
orm
is a
pas
sive
two-
phas
e he
at tr
ansf
er
devi
ce in
a se
aled
tube
.•T
he e
vapo
rato
r reg
ion
of th
e he
at p
ipe
is in
ther
mal
con
tact
with
a
heat
sour
ce.
•The
en
velo
pe
of
the
heat
pi
pe
is
typi
cally
m
ade
of
a hi
gh
cond
uctiv
ity m
ater
ial a
nd tr
ansp
orts
the
heat
to th
e liq
uid
insi
de.
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onl
y flu
id i
nsid
e th
e he
at p
ipe
is t
he w
orki
ng f
luid
in
ther
mod
ynam
ic e
quili
briu
m w
ith it
s ow
n va
por.
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uid
in
the
evap
orat
or
regi
on
evap
orat
es
to
vapo
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d is
tra
nspo
rted
to th
e ot
her
end
of th
e tu
be w
here
the
vapo
r co
nden
ses
to re
leas
e th
e la
tent
hea
t to
the
tube
wal
l. •T
he c
onde
nsed
flui
d is
tran
spor
ted
back
to th
e ev
apor
ator
regi
onby
th
e ca
pilla
ry a
ctio
n of
a w
ick
that
line
s th
e in
ner
wal
l of
the
tube
, he
nce
the
devi
ce is
pas
sive
.
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Hea
t Pip
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peci
ficat
ions
Des
ign
Cal
cula
tions
and
Val
idat
ion
Pro
of P
ress
ure
Test
Tita
nium
Gra
de 2
Hea
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ater
ial a
nd C
onst
ruct
ion
Tita
nium
Val
ve
Hea
t Pip
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losu
reTo
Be
Spe
cifie
d by
Ven
dor
Wic
k S
truct
ure
Min
imiz
eH
eat P
ipe
Mas
s
90H
eat P
ipe
Con
dens
er L
engt
h (c
m)
0H
eat P
ipe
Adi
abat
ic L
engt
h (c
m)
25H
eat P
ipe
Eva
pora
tor L
engt
h (c
m)
Mee
t AS
ME
Sec
tion
VIII
Boi
ler a
nd P
ress
ure
Ves
sel C
ode
Wal
l Thi
ckne
ss
1.27
H
eat P
ipe
Out
er D
iam
eter
(cm
)
Max
imiz
e P
ower
at 5
00
Hea
t Pip
e H
eat T
rans
fer C
apab
ility
(K)
310
to 5
50O
pera
ting
Tem
pera
ture
Ran
ge (K
)50
0N
omin
al O
pera
ting
Tem
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(K)
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Hea
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st S
etup
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Felt
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ick
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0
100
200
300
400
500
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Incl
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(cm
)
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Gro
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al G
roov
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reen
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man
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r Fel
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al A
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Gro
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at 5
00 K
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ine
(cm
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etal
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row
Gro
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HP 2
Fel
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Hea
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rfor
man
ce fo
r Fel
t Met
al G
roov
e H
eat P
ipes
at 4
50 K
.
Gle
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Mac
hine
Gro
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The
solid
gro
ove
heat
pip
es a
re fa
bric
ated
from
a fl
at p
late
.
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Mac
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” x
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roov
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30”
x .0
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ove
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es
19
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oves
17
Gro
oves
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t pip
es w
ere
fabr
icat
ed w
ith th
ree
diff
eren
t gro
ove
dim
ensi
ons:
23
groo
ves,
0.51
mm
x 1
.02
mm
(0.0
20”
x 0.
040”
), 19
gro
oves
, 0.6
4 m
m x
1.2
7 m
m, a
nd 1
7 gr
oove
s, 0.
76 m
m x
1.
52 m
m.
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0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0.38
0.00
-0.1
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-0.5
8In
clin
e (c
m)
Power (Watts)
HP 4
19
Gro
oves
HP 5
23
Gro
oves
HP 6
17
Gro
oves
Hea
t Pip
e Pe
rfor
man
ce fo
r Mac
hine
d So
lid A
xial
Gro
ove
at 5
00 K
.
Gle
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nc.
Hea
t Pip
e Pe
rfor
man
ce fo
r Mac
hine
d G
roov
e H
eat P
ipes
at 4
50 K
.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0.38
0.00
-0.1
9-0
.38
Incl
ine
(cm
)
Power (watts)HP
4 1
9 M
achi
ne G
roov
eHP
5 2
3 M
achi
ne G
roov
e
HP 6
17
Mac
hine
Gro
ove
Gle
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Se
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nc.
Scr
een
Axi
al A
rtery
Tita
nium
Hea
t Pip
e W
all
Scre
en W
ick Art
erie
s
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Scr
een
Axi
al A
rtery
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0.38
0-0
.19
-0.3
8-0
.58
-0.7
8-0
.96
-1.1
5-1
.34
Incl
ine
(cm
)
Power (Watts)HP
7 A
rtery
Thr
eade
d Ev
apor
ator
HP 8
Arte
ry T
hrea
ded
Evap
orat
or
HP 9
Arte
ry S
cree
n Ev
apor
ator
Hea
t Pip
e Pe
rfor
man
ce fo
r Scr
een
Axi
al A
rtery
at 5
00 K
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0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0.38
0.00
-0.1
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-0.5
8-0
.78
-0.9
7-1
.16
-1.3
5-1
.54
Incl
ine
(cm
)
Power (watts)HP
7 A
rtery
/Axi
al G
roov
e
HP 8
Arte
ry/A
xial
Gro
ove
HP 9
Arte
ry/S
cree
n
Hea
t Pip
e Pe
rfor
man
ce fo
r Scr
een
Axi
al A
rtery
at 4
50 K
Gle
nn R
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Cen
ter a
t Lew
is F
ield
Se
st, I
nc.
Con
clus
ions
•N
AS
A G
RC
pro
cure
d ni
ne h
eat p
ipes
of d
iffer
ent
desi
gns
from
thre
e m
anuf
actu
rers
.•
Tita
nium
–w
ater
pro
vide
s hi
gh te
mpe
ratu
re h
eat p
ipe
optio
ns fo
r spa
ce ra
diat
ors.
•Th
e he
at p
ipes
wer
e te
sted
at 4
50 K
and
500
K a
t va
rious
ele
vatio
ns a
nd in
clin
atio
ns.
•Th
e be
st h
eat p
ipes
reje
cted
>50
0 w
atts
at 5
00 K
op
erat
ing
tem
pera
ture
.
Gle
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Cen
ter a
t Lew
is F
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Se
st, I
nc.
AC
KN
OW
LED
GM
EN
TS
This
wor
k w
as c
arrie
d ou
t at N
ASA
Gle
nn R
esea
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Cen
ter a
t Lew
is fi
eld
and
was
supp
orte
d by
Exp
lora
tion
Syst
ems/
Prom
ethe
us. T
he o
pini
ons e
xpre
ssed
in th
is
pres
enta
tion
are
thos
e of
the
auth
or a
nd d
o no
t nec
essa
rily
refle
ct th
e vi
ews o
f the
Nat
iona
l Aer
onau
tics a
nd S
pace
A
dmin
istra
tion.
D
uane
Bea
ch p
rovi
ded
guid
ance
thro
ugho
ut th
e de
velo
pmen
t and
impl
emen
tatio
n of
the
prog
ram
.