Qpedia Oct14 Heat Transfer Calculations of Thermosyphon

Heat Transfer Calculations
of a Thermosyphon
Introduction
Thermosyphons and heat pipes are used to
transport large amounts of heat over a particular
distance by using a two-phase fluid inside a hollow
pipe. The more widely used heat pipe uses a
wicking structure to transport the liquid back to the
hot end whereas a thermosyphon is a simple hollow
tube that uses gravity.
evaporator is below the condenser. In this article

we will focus only on the non-looped single tube,
known as the thermosyphon pipe, with water as the
working fluid.
Thermosyphon Process
Heat is applied to the bottom end known as
the evaporator section where the temperature
difference between the wall and the fluid leads to
pool boiling. The vapor from the pool rises due to
buoyancy and travels through the middle, known as
the adiabatic section. On the other end of the pipe,
the condenser, the pipe is kept at a temperature
colder than the saturation temperature of the
vapor which causes it to condense on the walls.
The increase in density and weight causes the
condensate to fall back to the evaporator section to
complete the cycle.
Limits/Design Points
Given the expected heat load and the temperature
of the evaporator and condenser, we can calculate
the remaining variables that can be used for
designing the thermosyphon. The design decisions
needed to make are:
Figure 1. Comparison Between a Heat Pipe

and a Thermosyphon [6]
The lack of a wicking structure makes the

thermosyphon much less expensive than the
traditional heat pipe. However, because of the
integral role that gravity plays in the operation of
the thermosyphon, it is only effective when the
1) Geometry: Diameter & wall thickness. The total

length may be constrained by the application
domain
2) Volume of fill liquid
3) Pressure (as related to saturation/boiling point
temperature of the fluid)
4) Insertion length of the evaporator and condenser
OCTOBER 2014 |Qpedia
Flooding Limit
As mentioned above, the flooding limit can occur if
the velocity of the vapor is too high and prevents
the condensed liquid from falling down. The
correlation shown in equations 1-3, as shown by
Faghri et al. [2], finds the maximum allowable heat
transfer for a given set of conditions. If the fluid
properties are known, this correlation gives you a
minimum pipe diameter required for a given power.
Qmax,flood=
Tbhlv(D2pipe[g(l-v)1/4]
[v-0.25+l-0.25] 2
l 0.14
Tb =( ) tanh2(Bo)1/4
v
(2)
(3)
Bo=Dpipe,in
Figure 2. Vertical Two-Phase Thermosyphon [3]
The design points shown above are interconnected

by the following limits under which the
thermosyphon has to operate:
1) Flooding limit: the shear between the liquid and
vapor cross-flow can increase to the point where
the liquid does not fall. A similar limit in the
traditional heat pipe is known as the capillary
limit. The flooding limit can be best avoided by
increasing the pipe diameter to the point the
steam velocity is low. This limit is generally much
more restricting than the sonic limit that can be
experienced in heat pipes.
2) Boiling limit (dry out): If the liquid boils faster
than the vapor condenses, entire thermosyphon
will be filled with vapor
(1)
g(l-v)
1/2
Boiling Limit
Evaporator Section
Figure 3 shows the standard pool boiling curve.
Researchers have discovered that staying to the
left of the critical heat flux, i.e. nucleate boiling as
shown in region II, maintains a steady pool boil [7].
For water at atmospheric pressure, the critical
heat flux is in the range of 9501300 kW/m2 [8].
Figure 3. Pool Boiling Heat Flux vs Temp Difference [11]
To calculate the specific critical heat flux, use the

correlation from Sun and Leinhard [9] as shown in
equation 4. The minimum evaporator section length
can then be found such that the resulting heat
flux is less than the critical heat flux as shown in
Equation 5.
Q"CHF=0.149v-lv
g(l-v) 1/4
2v
(4)
Q
Levap
DpipeQ"CHF
(5)
Condenser Section
Most common type of condensation on a cold wall
results in film condensation for which one can
use Nusselts condensation correlation, as shown in
equation 6, to find the heat transfer coefficient as
a function of condenser length [4]. Combined with
the first law analysis for the evaporator section as
shown in equation 7, one can determine the right
condenser length. Note that the heat transfer,
Q, is the same for the evaporator and condenser
sections.
hcLc
l(l-v)ghlvLc
(6)
Q = hc(2Rpipe,iLc)(Tsat - Tc,i)
(7)
Nu =
Kl
[ 4 K (T
l
3 1/4
- Tc,i)
sat
Where Tc,i refers to the temperature inside the pipe

in the condenser section which can be calculated
by the cylindrical conduction equation shown in
Equation 8.
ln
Tc,i = Tc -
Dout
(D )
pipe,i
2LK
(8)
Fill Volume
An incorrect initial fill volume in a thermosyphon
can similarly lead to dry out or flooding limit even
if the remaining variables are correctly set. For
the thermosyphon in the vertical orientation, the
fill volume should be 20-80% of the evaporator
volume. There are varying views on whether an

optimal fill volume exists within that range; a
starting point of 50% fill volume is recommended.
Thermosyphon Orientation
The thermosyphon uses the force of gravity to
transport condensed liquid back to the evaporator
section. For that reason, one would intuit that the
completely vertical orientation would serve as the
most optimal performance and the completely
horizontal orientation, if at all functional, to be the
least.
However, several studies have found that the
optimal orientation exists in the middle of the two
angles. The results vary as to the range in which
the optimum exists. For example, Emami et al. [1]
found that an orientation of 60 from the horizontal
has a performance 5-10% better than the vertical
set up whereas their predecessors Terdtoon et
al. [10] found the optimum to lie between 70-80
degrees.
Since the pipe orientation maybe a function of the
larger design criterion and application geometry,
the smaller differences in performance may not
be as useful. For example, to get a 5% increase
in performance, it may be easier to increase the
diameter of the thermosyphon by 2.5% than to
change the angle by 10-40.
Conclusion
A thermosyphon is a simple device that can be
used to transfer large amounts of heat without
moving parts. The limitations of the device are
similar to those of a traditional heat pipe with
a wicking structure. Using the correlations and
equations shown in this section one can get a basic
understanding of the right thermosyphon pipe to
use for a particular application.
Greek Symbols
l
Density of liquid phase [kg/m3]
Density of vapor phase [kg/m3]
Surface Tension of liquid [N/m]

OCTOBER 2014 |Qpedia
Nomenclature
Bo
Bond number as defined by equation 3
Dpipe,in Inner diameter of the thermosyphon pipe

[m]
Dout
Outer diameter of the thermosyphon pipe

[m]
Gravitational Constant, [9.8 m/s2]
hc
Heat transfer coefficient for condensation

[W/m2-K]
hlv
Enthalpy of evaporation [J/kg-K]
Kl
Thermal Conductivity for the liquid

[W/m-K]
Levap
Length of the evaporator section [m]
Nu
Nusselt number
Q''CHF
Critical Heat Flux in pool boiling [W/m2-K]
Heat Transfer rate [W]
Tc
Temperature outside the thermosyphon

pipe in the condenser region [K]
Tc,i
Temperature inside the thermosyphon pipe

in the condenser region [K]
TSAT
Saturation/boiling temperature of the

liquid [K]
References:
1. Emami, M., Saramasti, S., Noie, N and
Khoshnoodi, M. "Effect of aspect ratio and
filling ratio on thermal performance of an
inclined two-phase closed thermosyphon."
Iranian Journa of Science & Technology
(2008): 39-51.
2. Faghri, A., Chen., M and Morgan. "Heat
Transfer Characteristics in Two-Phase
Closed Conventional And Concentric Annular
Thermosyphons." 1998. 291-303.
3. Fukano, T. Condensation in Tubes.
2014. <http://www.thermopedia.com/
content/1214/>.
4. Ghiaasiaan, M. Two-Phase Flow, Boiling &
Condensation. 2008.
8
5. Gorenflo, D. "Pool Boiling." VDI-Heat Atlas

(English Version) (1993).
6. Palm, B. "A Short Course on Cooling
of Electronics by Heat Pipes and
Thermosyphons." Nokia. Helsinki, 1996.
7. Palm, Bjorn. "Cooling of Electronics by Heat
Pipes and Thermosyphons." Helsinki, 1996.
8. Reay, D., and Kew. P., Heat Pipes: Theory,
Design and Applications. 2006.
9. Sun, K., and Leinhard. "The peak pool
boiling heat fluxes on horizontal cylinders."
International Journal of Heat & Mass
Transfer (1970).
10. Terdtoon, P., Ritthidech, S., and
Shiraishi, M., "Effect of aspect ratio and
bond number on an inclined closed twophase thermosyphon at normal operating
condition." 1996. 5th International Heat
Pipe Symposium.
11. Thermal-Fluids Central.com. "Pool Boiling
Regimes". n.d. 2014.
qats.com
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K Nu
f D
h 0.588x110 = 16,200 W / m2 .K
=
D
0.004
h
o
T = 70 (70 15)exp( 0.018X0.116200 ) = 20.8 C
0.072 4188
m,o
htp = Shnb + hcb = Shnb + Ehl
h
=
D
Lhy = Lhy ReD Dh = 45D
h
h
p
h 0.006 GC
=
0.006 38.16 1007
= 289 W / m2.K
c
Pr 2/3
0.7092/3
L
Dh
Ra = g
L
=
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G
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f
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Heat Transfer Calculations

evaporator is below the condenser. In this article

Figure 1. Comparison Between a Heat Pipe

The lack of a wicking structure makes the

1) Geometry: Diameter & wall thickness. The total

Figure 2. Vertical Two-Phase Thermosyphon [3]

The design points shown above are interconnected

Figure 3. Pool Boiling Heat Flux vs Temp Difference [11]

To calculate the specific critical heat flux, use the

Where Tc,i refers to the temperature inside the pipe

volume. There are varying views on whether an

Density of liquid phase [kg/m3]

Density of vapor phase [kg/m3]

Surface Tension of liquid [N/m]

Bond number as defined by equation 3

Dpipe,in Inner diameter of the thermosyphon pipe

Outer diameter of the thermosyphon pipe

Gravitational Constant, [9.8 m/s2]

Heat transfer coefficient for condensation

Enthalpy of evaporation [J/kg-K]

Thermal Conductivity for the liquid

Length of the evaporator section [m]

Critical Heat Flux in pool boiling [W/m2-K]

Heat Transfer rate [W]

Temperature outside the thermosyphon

Temperature inside the thermosyphon pipe

Saturation/boiling temperature of the

5. Gorenflo, D. "Pool Boiling." VDI-Heat Atlas

Lower your components junction

htp = Shnb + hcb = Shnb + Ehl

Lhy = Lhy ReD Dh = 45Dh

htp = Shnb + hcb = Shnb + Ehl

Lhy = Lhy ReD Dh = 45Dh

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