Loop heat pipe method and apparatus

• US 6,810,946 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2002
• Issued: 11/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: TTH Research Incorporated
• Original Assignee: TTH Research Incorporated
• Inventors: Hoang, Triem T.
• Primary Examiner(s): CIRIC, LJILJANA V
• Application Number:
  US10/324,005
• Publication Number:
  US 20030159808A1
• Time in Patent Office: 683 Days
• Field of Search: 165/41, 165/104.26, 165/185, 165/104.33, 165/104.25, 165/104.22, 165/104.23, 165/104.24
• US Class Current: 165/104.26
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 15/043 forming loops, e.g. capillary pumped loops

Abstract

An Advanced Loop Heat Pipe (“ALHP”) apparatus, for passively transporting waste heat over a long distance and rejecting it to a heat sink for heat rejection, an evaporator capillary pump (“ECP”) for heat acquisition, includes a reservoir for storing the working fluid of the ALHP, an auxiliary pump for vapor management of the liquid side of the loop, a primary condenser for condensation of vapor from the ECP, and a secondary condenser for condensation of vapor from the reservoir. The reservoir, ECP, and condenser are connected by transport lines to provide a conduit for the working fluid to flow from one component to another. The reservoir also connects to the auxiliary pump by an auxiliary pump transport line via the condenser. The auxiliary pump further connects to the condenser by a vapor transport line.

Claims

1. A closed circulatory system capable of fast system startup, comprising:

a reservoir which contains a working fluid;

at least one evaporator capillary pump (“

ECP”

) in fluid communication with the reservoir for conducting heat from a surface of the ECP to the working fluid inside the ECP,

an auxiliary pump for managing vapor buildup in the reservoir and operable to displace vapor mass out of the reservoir at a rate based on the temperature of the working fluid,

a primary condenser in fluid communication with the ECP for condensing vapor from the ECP back to liquid state, and

a secondary condenser in fluid communication with the reservoir for condensing vapor from the reservoir back to liquid state.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a vapor line to fluidly couple the ECP to an inlet of the primary condenser;

a liquid line to fluidly couple the primary condenser outlet to the reservoir;

and an auxiliary pump line to fluidly couple the reservoir to an inlet of the auxiliary pump.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

an additional vapor line to connect an outlet of the auxiliary pump to the vapor line if the auxiliary pump generates vapor at its outlet.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary pump is one of a mechanical pump, capillary pump, and electro-hydrodynamic pump that removes a predetermined amount of vapor from the reservoir and transports it to the condenser for heat rejection.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reservoir contains a mixture of liquid and vapor states of the working fluid.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ECP includes a wick and conducts heat from the surface to the working fluid in the wick.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:

a capillary link between the reservoir and the wick for supplying liquid from the reservoir to the wick at all times; and

a reservoir wick in the reservoir for fluid management in micro-gravity environments;

wherein the wick of the ECP provides a capillary pumping head for working fluid circulation.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein the auxiliary pump is a capillary pump and includes an auxiliary pump wick to provide capillary pumping action for removing vapor from the reservoir;

and further comprising;

an additional capillary link between the secondary condenser and the auxiliary pump wick for supplying fluid from the secondary condenser to the auxiliary pump wick.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the primary and secondary condensers, remove heat and condense the operating vapor to a liquid state.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the primary and secondary condensers are part of an integrated condenser.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the working fluid is selected as a function of temperature range in which the closed ciculatory system is operated.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 for cryogenic applications, further comprising:

a swing volume for reducing the system pressure quickly during the start-up process; and

a pressure reduction reservoir for minimizing the system pressure for pressure containment and safe handling.