Visualization experiments are conducted on horizontal heat pipes to investigate the effects of Al2O3 or Cu nanoparticles laden in mesh-wick evaporator. The nanoparticle-laden evaporator appears quiescent with no sign of boiling. With 0.01g Cu nanoparticles sintered in the evaporator, the maximum heat load Qmax and the minimum evaporator resistance Re,min are only slightly improved. With 0.01g or 0.04g sedimented Al2O3 nanoparticles, Re,min reduces by 20%. Qmax increases by 20% with a larger amount of Al2O3 nanoparticles. Re,min improvement may be attributed to additional heat paths with numerous micro menisci for thin-film evaporation. Qmax increases with enhanced capillarity by nanoparticle agglomerates.
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