Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
655738 | International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow | 2009 | 9 Pages |
Surface tension-driven effects in wickless heat pipes with aqueous solutions of long-chain alcohols are investigated. Flow visualizations and numerical simulation of bubbles behaviour and boiling pattern in transparent capillaries show the potential advantages of “self-rewetting” fluids, i.e. liquid solutions with a non-linear dependence of the surface tension with temperature. Surface tension measurements at different temperatures have been carried out also for a number of ternary aqueous solutions with relatively low freezing points. Some of them interestingly exhibit the same anomalous positive surface tension gradient with temperature as binary self-rewetting solutions. These results may open new horizons toward the development of more efficient heat transfer devices for different applications.