Ground and microgravity results of a circumferentially microgrooved capillary evaporator

A circumferentially microgrooved capillary evaporator is here proposed as a reliable alternative for ground and spacecraft thermal control system applications. In this paper, experimental results concerning the start-up and thermal behavior of a capillary evaporator at steady state operation are pre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Applied thermal engineering Vol. 71; no. 1; pp. 169 - 174
Main Authors:	Bazzo, Edson, Camargo, Heitor V.R., Reimbrecht, Eduardo G., Berti, Lucas F., Santos, Paulo H.D.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 05-10-2014 Elsevier
Subjects:	Aluminum Applied sciences Capillarity Circumferences CPL Energy Energy. Thermal use of fuels Evaporation Exact sciences and technology Ground and microgravity experiments Grounds Heat transfer Microgravity Microgrooved wick Space applications Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering Thermal engineering Water Water Microgrooved wick Ground and microgravity experiments CPL Evaporator Microgravity
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Summary:	A circumferentially microgrooved capillary evaporator is here proposed as a reliable alternative for ground and spacecraft thermal control system applications. In this paper, experimental results concerning the start-up and thermal behavior of a capillary evaporator at steady state operation are presented. A capillary pumped loop was developed and tested at ground and microgravity conditions, using deionized water as the working fluid. The capillary evaporator has internally machined circumferential grooves with an average opening of 33 μm opening at 215 μm step into a 19.05 mm (3/4 in) diameter aluminum tube. The corresponding capillary pumping pressure is about 1.5 kPa. In both tests, power inputs up to 10 W (4.55 kW/m2) were successfully applied to the external surface of the evaporator, showing good performance under ground and microgravity conditions. The capillary evaporator as proposed proved to be a reliable alternative for industrial and space applications. •Circumferentially grooved capillary evaporators as alternative for thermal control.•Successful start-up operation at ground and microgravity conditions.•Successful steady state operation at ground and microgravity conditions.•Easy repriming in case of dry-out.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1359-4311
DOI:	10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.06.039