Problems associated with use of heat pipes at high heat fluxes are addressed. To improve the heat transfer capacity of the evaporator, porous wick characteristics and thickness used at the evaporator are different from the wicks found in the condenser and the adiabatic regions. The influences of the wick characteristics and thickness on evaporation heat transfer performance of the evaporator are analyzed in detail. The calculation results show that there exist optimal combinations of the wick powder sizes and thicknesses at the evaporator that vary with the operating temperature of the heat pipe. After determining the operating temperature, the wick powder size and thickness at the evaporator can be optimized to achieve high heat flux capability at the evaporator. Experimental investigation of evaporation heat transfer in porous wicks is carried out. Different porous media are used as wicks in the experiment. Preliminary experimental data on the metal screen are presented.
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