Investigation of a Gas-Pump-Driven Loop Heat Pipe

Yangyiming Rong, Weitao Su, Shuai Wang, Bowen Du, Zujun Mao and Shaozhi Zhang ()
Additional contact information
Yangyiming Rong: Huadong Engineering Co., Ltd., Power Construction Corporation of China, Hangzhou 318050, China
Weitao Su: Huadong Engineering Co., Ltd., Power Construction Corporation of China, Hangzhou 318050, China
Shuai Wang: Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Bowen Du: Huadong Engineering Co., Ltd., Power Construction Corporation of China, Hangzhou 318050, China
Zujun Mao: Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Shaozhi Zhang: Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: A loop heat pipe (LHP) is an efficient method of conserving energy in data center cooling applications. In scenarios where the installation is constrained by height or distance limitations, pump driving is needed. This paper examines the performance changes induced by a gas pump both experimentally and theoretically. An adjustable, oil-free linear compressor is utilized as a gas pump. The evaporator is a finned-tube heat exchanger and the condenser is a water-cooled plate heat exchanger. When the filling ratio of the working fluid is insufficient, employing a gas pump can enhance the heat transfer performance. However, when the filling ratio of the working fluid is sufficient, while the gas pump can increase the flowrate of the working fluid, the heat transfer rate (HTR) does not change significantly. In fact, it may reduce the energy efficiency ratio of the heat pipe. Infrared thermography has proven to be an efficient tool for estimating the area ratio of different zones within the evaporator, which is crucial for the output regulation of the compressor. The area ratio of the two-phase zone is nearly linear to the HTR. Through the establishment of a physical model of a gas-pump-driven loop heat pipe (GPLHP), the impacts of the LHP size and gas pump operation on the heat transfer performance are analyzed. It is found that the gas pump can extend the application range of the LHP, although it has a minimal impact on the maximum HTR. How to select a gas pump for an LHP is discussed.

Keywords: loop heat pipe; gas pump; experiment; modelling; infrared thermography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/21/5283/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/21/5283/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:21:p:5283-:d:1505438

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().