RETRACTED: Visualization experiments on the condensation process in the vertical tube condenser of a loop thermosyphon

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).This article has been retracted at the request of the authors.The temperatures measured by thermocouples T6, T7 and T8 have been found unreliable. These thermocouples were attached to the condenser tube by a layer of insulation belt to avoid the influence from the cooling water (Fig. 3). However, later experiments verified that, if the belts were not sufficiently water-proof, some water might permeate into the insulation belt and cause significantly lowered temperatures. With water-proof belts, the temperatures measured along the outer wall of the condenser tube were much more uniform in the longitudinal direction. That is, the low temperatures of T6 and T8 shown in Fig. 7, for example, were likely caused by water permeation. Therefore, the data of T6-T8 exhibited in Figs. 7–9, 12–14 are unreliable.