Electrohydrodynamically Augmented Micro Heat Pipes

Abstract

An experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate the potential benefits of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) forces on the operation of micro heat pipes. In these experiments, electric fields were used to orient and guide the flow of the dielectric liquid within the micro heat pipe from the condenser to the evaporator. The experiments indicate the heat transport capability of the EHD micro heat pipes is increased by up to six times of that of conventional ones. In parallel, an analytical model was developed to predict the maximum heat transport capability for various electric field intensities and micro heat pipe geometries. The analytical model agrees well with the experimental results for the geometry studied experimentally. The model shows that large pore sizes are optimal from a heat transport capacity perspective. Finally, a critical assessment of the experimental results suggest an alternative design capable of achieving as much as a 180 times improvement in the heat transport capacity in comparison to traditional micro heat pipes.