Role of latent heat storage in thermal performance of an axially grooved heat pipe

Heat pipe coupled with phase change material (PCM) based latent heat storage (LHS) is a significant thermal management system that can efficiently control the intermittent high heat loads of electronic devices. Herein, an axially grooved heat pipe-LHS (AGHP&LHS) system has been proposed. The influence of LHS units and their location on dynamic temperature response of AGHP has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The effect of filling rates of phase change materials (PCMs) as well as cooling temperature on thermal response of the AGHP has been compared and analyzed. Results indicate that the LHS effectively stabilizes the heat source temperature under the intermittent heating process, enhances the thermostat performance and brings the temperature uniformity in AGHP. In addition, LHS units arranged at the evaporator section are optimal for AGHP under intermittent heat load conditions, reducing the heat source temperature by 27.4% and prolonging the melting time by 81.5%. As the heat load increases, the melting time of AGHP&LHS system becomes shorter, and the overall temperature uni-formity is worsened. In particular, the melting time is prolonged by 34.8% for AGHP&LHS system with PCM filling rate of 89% than that of 44% filling rate.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigates the thermal management effectiveness of a heat pipe coupled with phase change material (PCM) based latent heat storage (LHS) system for high heat loads in electronic devices. Both experimental and theoretical analyses show that arranging PCM units at the evaporator section optimizes the system's performance under intermittent heat load conditions by stabilizing the heat source temperature and improving temperature uniformity.