Development of an experimental loop heat pipe for application in future space missions

The application of loop heat pipes (LHPs) as two-phase thermal control devices for space missions has been considered and successfully used in many spacecraft. Therefore, issues related to design, miniaturization of such a device and use of hazardous working fluids such as ammonia are still a concern. In order to face such concerns, this paper presents the development of an experimental LHP that deals with miniaturization and the use of an alternative working fluid. An experimental LHP was built and tested with acetone as the working fluid, designed to manage up to 70 W and using a capillary evaporator with reduced active length. The experimental results showed good thermal management performance of the proposed LHP for the imposed limitations to its design and operation. The proposed LHP presented to be a reliable thermal management device for application in future space missions, especially when considering the use of a less hazardous working fluid and the particular geometric characteristics.