Vapor Thermodynamics and Fluid Merit for Pulsating Heat Pipe

Abstract

In this communication, we discuss a theoretical description of the vapor-phase thermodynamics in the pulsating heat pipe (PHP), to be used in numerical simulations. We advance a theory based on simulation results that allows us to derive a theoretical expression for a dimensionless quantity describing the vapor properties of a given fluid. One can use this quantity to evaluate the fluid merit for use in the PHP. This theory is compared with the simulation results obtained using the PHP simulation code CASCO. We compare the merits of water, ethanol, and FC-72 and show that water possesses better properties for use in PHPs.