EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF AN ALUMINIUM THERMOSYPHON AT NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS

Abstract

The paper presents experimental investigation of an aluminium thermosyphon charged with acetone as working fluid. The effect of filling ratio on steady state performance of thermosyphon is experimentally investigated. Experimentation is performed at three different ratios namely 30 %, 60 % and 100 %. The effect of heat input and mass flow rate of water is also investigated. The heat input is varied between 50 to 300 W and mass flow rate is maintained in the range 30 lph to 60 lph. A condenser section of thermosyphon is surrounded by two pass aluminium cooling block for effective condensation. The cooling block is design in such a way that water will absorbs maximum heat from working fluid in condenser section. The temperature at outer surface of thermosyphon is recorded with the help of temperature sensors. The temperature distribution at outer surface of evaporator and condenser observed to be almost uniform for all mass flow rates and filling ratios. The heat transfer limitations are not encountered for any of thermosyphon. The filling ratio has significant effect on outer surface temperature of evaporator. The surface temperature of evaporator increases by 20 % with increasing the filling ratio at 150 W heat input and 30 lph mass flow rate. The results also indicate that mass flow of cooling water has significant effect on total thermal resistance of thermosyphon at lower input. For 50 W heat input, minimum thermal resistance is recorded as 0.269 °C/W at 60 % filling ratio and 50 lph mass flow rate. While for a same heat input, maximum thermal resistance is recorded as 1.077 °C/W at 100 % filling ratio and 60 lph mass flow rate.

Keywords

• Thermosyphon
• Filling Ratio
• Mass Flow Rate
• Surface Temperature
• Total Thermal Resistance

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