Experimental Study of Sodium Heat Pipes

Abstract

The heat transfer rates of SUS 316 L stainless steel/sodium heat pipes having 2 Iayers, 4 Iayers and 6 Iayers of wicking material of 50 mesh screen at sodium vapor temperatures ranging from 500 to 700°C are shown. The heat transfer rates of the sodium heat pipes were obtained experimentally and by using the formula for effective thermal conductivity based on the series model. The calculation results agreed fairly well with the experimental results.