TABLE OF CONTENTS The heat pipe has been, and currently is being, studied for a wide variety of applications, covering almost the complete spectrum of temperatures encountered in heat transfer processes. These applications range from the use of liquid helium heat pipes to aid target cooling in particle accelerators, to cooling systems for state-of-the-art nuclear reactors and potential developments aimed at new measuring techniques for the temperature range 2000 3000 C.
The decade since the last edition of Heat Pipes has seen mass production of heat pipes on a scale not envisaged before millions of units per month being fabricated for thermal management (generally cooling) of the processors in desktop and notebook computers. The position of heat pipes in spacecraft has been challenged by developments in lightweight mechanical pumps (for fluid pumping) and by some thermal storage technologies. Nevertheless, the concurrent development and use of loop heat pipes (see also Chapter 6 and Chapter 8) has ensured that the heat pipe solution remains at or near the top of the list of preferred options [1].
In general, the applications come within a number of broad groups, each of which describes a property of the heat pipe. These groups are:
Separation of heat source and sink
Temperature flattening, or isothermalisation
Heat flux transformation
Temperature control
Thermal diodes and switches
The high effective thermal conductivity of a heat pipe enables heat to be transferred at high efficiency over considerable distances. In many applications where component cooling is required, it may...
