Transient and isothermal characteristics of a particular heat pipe

This paper presents a simple and rapid mathematical model to calculate the non-steady-state startup process and study the isothermal characteristics of a particular heat pipe. The model takes into consideration the special structure and usage conditions, where vapor temperature in the heat pipe changes only over time. This vapor temperature change correlation is calculated numerically and is set as the temperature boundary condition for the working well. The temperature, velocity and pressure distribution in the working well are then solved using FLUENT. The results manifest that the time required for approaching steady condition are 450 s, 550 s and 600 s with water bath temperatures of 330 K, 340 K and 350 K, respectively. The comparison of the calculations and experimental data shows good agreement, and the maximum deviation is 3.7 K.