Thermal Interface Evaluation of Heat Transfer from a Pumped Loop to Titanium-Water Thermosyphons

Abstract

Titanium-water thermosyphons are being considered for use in the heat rejection system for lunar outpost fission surface power. Key to their use is heat transfer between a closed loop heat source and the heat pipe evaporators. This work describes laboratory testing of several interfaces that were evaluated for their thermal performance characteristics, in the temperature range of 350 to 400 K, utilizing a water closed loop heat source and multiple thermosyphon evaporator geometries. A gas gap calorimeter was used to measure heat flow at steady state. Thermocouples in the closed loop heat source and on the evaporator were used to measure thermal conductance. The interfaces were in two generic categories, those immersed in the water closed loop heat source and those clamped to the water closed loop heat source with differing thermal conductive agents. In general, immersed evaporators showed better overall performance than their clamped counterparts. Selected clamped evaporator geometries offered promise. Nomenclature AT= temperature difference between closed loop heat source and evaporator A = evaporator surface area cm = centimeter C p = heat capacity dT = temperature difference across gas gap calorimeter= mass rate of flow 1 Physicist, Space Environment and Experiments Branch, 21000 Brookpark Rd., Cleveland, Ohio, AIAA Member.