The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Heat transfer enhancement from a heat pipe immersed horizontally in water, under natural convection conditions, with the aid of gas injection
Author:	Minakas, Evangelos J.
View Online:	njit-etd1997-077 (xvii, 152 pages ~ 5.0 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Mechanical Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Mechanical Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Kirchner, Robert P. (Committee chair) Droughton, John Vincent (Committee member) Geskin, E. S. (Committee member)
Date:	1997-05
Keywords:	Heat--Transmission. Heat pipes.
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	An experimental study has been performed to estimate the degree of heat transfer enhancement from a horizontal heat pipe, immersed in water with the aid of air injection. This thesis investigates the effects of different shroud shapes, shroud distances from the heat pipe, air injection rates, air injection configurations and air injection distances on the augmentation of heat transfer. Water was the experimental fluid and its temperature ranged from 17-60 °C, the surface temperature of the heat pipes varied from 18-75 °C. It was discovered that the shape of the shrouds is a contributing factor on the heat transfer enhancement. There was heat transfer enhancement of 350% for straight shrouds and 400 % for curved shrouds when all others parameters remained the same. The heat transfer enhancement due to water circulation only was 100 % for the 7/16 heat pipe, and 30 % for both the 0.5 inch and 0.75 inch HP-I heat pipes at high power input rates. Water circulation within the tank improved as the number of openings increased on the injection pipe and this resulted in higher heat transfer rates. The shroud distance and air injection distance greatly influence the augmentation of heat transfer.