Experimental Investigation of Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer of a Two Phase Closed Thermosyphon

Abstract

In this paper the heat transfer characteristics of a two-phase closed thermosyphon over a wide range of heat transfer rates, system pressure, aspect ratios and filling ratios were studied. The experiments focused on the boiling and condensation heat transfer characteristics of a thermosyphon with a copper tube having 25 and 32 mm inside and outside diameters. Distilled water was used as the working fluid. The experimental boiling and condensation heat transfer coefficients inside the thermosyphon were compared with the existing correlations. A good agreement between the experimental results of condensation heat transfer of the thermosyphon and Nusselt’s correlation was obtained. In addition, the optimal working fluid filling and the overall heat transfer coefficient were evaluated for practical operation. Finally, according to poor agreement between the experimental results of boiling heat transfer coefficient and existing correlations, the working conditions were analyzed and a new practical formula (correlation) was presented. The new correlation can be used to predict boiling heat transfer coefficient generally.