Improved double-wall artery high-capacity heat pipe

The double-wall artery heat pipe is a novel composite wick structure for high-capacity heat pipe designs. Encouraged by the initial test results (1600 W multiplied by m transport capacity and 16 W/cm super(2) radial evaporator heat flux) of the proof-of-concept 1.2-m-long copper-water prototype, additional work has been performed to improve the transport capacity and overall performance of the double-wall heat pipe. The improved design reported in this paper incorporates a segmented grooved inner tube, larger arteries, and screenless adiabatic and condenser sections to allow longer transport length. Artery priming characteristics and performance test results of a 2-m-long, 2.22-cm-diam copper-water heat pipe unit are presented.