An investigation and enhancement of thermal performance in a heat pipe and its thermal modeling application

The fundamentals of evaporation and condensation in porous media as they happen in heat pipes were studied. Extensive experimental investigations and physical modelling of evaporation from porous media were carried out. An analytical solution for film condensation was developed by taking into consideration the two-phase zone at the border between the liquid and gaseous zones. Methods were presented for determinations of the effective thermal conductivities and the film thickness during film condensation from experimental data. The findings can be used in areas with the phase transition in porous media, such as geothermal energy, drying technology, and nuclear energy.