Investigation on the Feasibility of Oscillating-Flow Heat Pipe Applied in the Solar Collector

Abstract

Oscillating-flow heat pipe (OFHP) is a new type of heat-transfer device with many novel properties, having an attractive prospect for application in solar thermal utilization. Experiments on the heat-transfer performance of the OFHP with common size and the OFHP components designed for solar collectors were carried out. The results showed that the heat-transfer performance of OFHP of common dimensions varied slightly when the filling ratio varied from 40% to 60% and confirmed that the OFHP with an appropriate filling ratio has an excellent heat-transfer performance at most of inclination angles. The experiments also confirmed the feasibility for the OFHP application in solar collectors.

Keywords:

• Oscillating-flow heat pipe
• Solar collector
• Heat transfer characteristics

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work is supported by the Project (No. 50876029) of National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National High-tech R&D Program of China (863 Program; No. 2009AA05Z418) and the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program; No. 2009CB219801).