A review of recent experimental investigations and theoretical analyses for pulsating heat pipes

Xin TANG, Lili SHA, Hua ZHANG, Yonglin JU

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Front. Energy ›› 2013, Vol. 7 ›› Issue (2) : 161-173. DOI: 10.1007/s11708-013-0250-1
REVIEW ARTICLE

A review of recent experimental investigations and theoretical analyses for pulsating heat pipes

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Abstract

Pulsating heat pipe (PHP), or oscillating heat pipe (OHP), a novel type of highly efficient heat transfer component, has been widely applied in many fields, such as in space-borne two-phase thermal control systems, in the cooling of electronic devices and in energy-saving technology, etc. In the present paper, the characteristics and working principles of the PHPs are introduced and the current researches in the field are described from the viewpoint of experimental tests, theoretical analyses as well as practical applications. Besides, it is found that the state-of-the-art experimental investigations on the PHPs are mainly focused on the flow visualization and the applications of nanofluids and other functional fluids, aiming at enhancing the heat transfer performance of the PHPs. In addition, it is also pointed out that the present theoretical analyses of the PHP are restricted by further development of two-phase flow theories, and are concentrated in the non-linear analyses. Numerical simulations are expected to be another research focus, in particular of the combination of the nanofluids and functional fluids.

Keywords

pulsating heat pipe (PHP) / flow visualization / nanofluids / nonlinear analysis

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Xin TANG, Lili SHA, Hua ZHANG, Yonglin JU. A review of recent experimental investigations and theoretical analyses for pulsating heat pipes. Front Energ, 2013, 7(2): 161‒173 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-013-0250-1

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Acknowledgements

This project is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51006069).

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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