Numerical modeling of heat pipe radiator and fin size optimization for low and no gravity environments

A heat-pipe radiator element has been designed and modeled to study the efficiency of heat transfer for low and no gravity environments, like in lunar environments. The advantages of using heat pipe includes the significant weight reducing and heat transfer efficiency. The heat transfer can be enhanced by the use of condenser sections with attached fins.;A series of various geometries of solid fins and heat pipes with and without fins were modeled using FLUENTRTM. This was done to determine the validity of using a heat pipe in lieu of a solid fin projection. A heat pipe had a 25 mm outer diameter, 23 mm inner diameter, 25 mm wide fin. The heat pipe with fin was 300 mm in length. Using the power output per unit area and power output per unit mass, to verify that a design heat pipe was the best selection for a lunar radiator system. Then, heat pipes with various fin widths were modeled using FLUENTRTM and their power outputs were analyzed as a function of radiation surface area and mass.;The parametric study returned the expected results that the heat pipe provided the highest power output for both the mass and radiation area. The fin width study was used to determine the fin size that provided the most power output per unit mass. This showed an optimum fin width of 12.5 mm.