Experimental investigation of the thermal performance of closed loop flat plate oscillating heat pipe

A number of theoretical studies and experimental investigations have been carried out on the closed loop flat plate oscillating heat pipe (CLFP-OHP) in the past decades. However, due to the complex working mechanism of CLFP-OHP, the effects of operational and geometrical parameters on the thermal performance CLFP-OHP have not been completely revealed so far. In the present study, the CLFP-OHP was investigated with different operational parameters (charge ratio, orientation, and heat load) and geometrical parameters (channel size and shape). In order to investigate the effect of these parameters, parallel mini channels were machined onto the copper plate and acetone was used as working fluid to form CLFP-OHP. An attempt has been made to resolve the critical charge ratio of acetone for CLFP-OHP. The measured thermal resistance found strongly dependent on operational and geometrical parameters. The best performance was observed by acetone with a charge ratio of 60% in the vertical orientation for square (2 x 2 mm(2)) channels. The lowest thermal resistance of 0.39 degrees C/W achieved for acetone at 100 W. The thermal conductivity of CLFP-OHP reached to 3205 W/m degrees C.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of operational and geometrical parameters on the thermal performance of CLFP-OHP. It was found that the thermal resistance was strongly dependent on these parameters, with acetone showing the best performance at a charge ratio of 60%, in vertical orientation, and square channels. The lowest thermal resistance achieved was 0.39 degrees C/W at 100 W, with a thermal conductivity of 3205 W/m degrees C.