Sweating-Boosted Heat-Pipe Condenser for Compact Cooling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Air-cooled condensers face challenges in reducing water usage and power production penalties due to low thermal conductivity of air, requiring enhanced heat transfer coefficients while maintaining cost-effectiveness and scalability for large-scale applications.
Innovation Solution
The development of a sweating-boosted air-cooled heat-pipe condenser using highly conductive heat pipes with hybrid microscale wicks and nanowick coatings, integrating nanowick technology to enhance condensation and evaporation processes, and employing a flow separation technique to improve air convection, thereby achieving high heat transfer coefficients with reduced water consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If air cooled condensers use large surface areas to compensate for low thermal conductivity of air, then heat transfer capability is improved, but device footprint and capital cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces evaporative cooling where water evaporates from the condenser surface, utilizing the phase transition from liquid to vapor. This phase change process absorbs latent heat and significantly enhances the heat transfer coefficient, allowing compact condenser design without requiring large surface areas to achieve the necessary heat transfer capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite surface structures combining hydrophilic materials with specific geometric patterns (such as dimples or grooves). These composite surfaces optimize both the evaporative cooling effect and the underlying heat conduction, creating a synergistic enhancement that reduces the required condenser footprint while maintaining high heat transfer rates.
2Power
If forced air convection is used to enhance heat transfer, then heat transfer coefficient is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The evaporative cooling system operates passively, utilizing natural convection and evaporation processes without requiring external mechanical drivers. The water evaporates naturally from the cooled surface, and the resulting vapor and cooling effect occur spontaneously, eliminating the need for energy-consuming fans or blowers while maintaining enhanced heat transfer coefficients.
Solution Approach 2:
The phase transition of water evaporation provides a self-sustaining cooling mechanism that does not require external power input. The latent heat of vaporization is absorbed from the condenser surface, providing continuous cooling effect through the natural evaporation process, thereby achieving high heat transfer coefficients without increasing power consumption.
3Power
If water is used for cooling in water cooled condensers, then heat transfer efficiency is improved, but water consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes evaporative cooling where a small amount of water evaporates from the condenser surface to provide cooling. This phase transition process allows the system to achieve high heat transfer efficiency similar to water-cooled condensers, but with dramatically reduced water consumption since only the evaporating portion of water is needed, not continuous circulation of large volumes of cooling water.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs porous or textured surfaces that promote water evaporation while minimizing water retention. These surfaces allow water to be drawn from a reservoir and evaporate efficiently, providing continuous cooling with minimal water loss. The porous structure enhances the evaporative cooling effect while preventing excessive water accumulation, thus reducing overall water consumption while maintaining heat transfer efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution significantly enhances the heat transfer coefficient by 200 W/m2·K, reduces the air-cooled condenser footprint by 52%, and potential capital costs by 67%, while minimizing power production penalties and water usage, making it a suitable solution for large-scale power plants.
Implementation Method 1
Heat pipe heat exchangers are a passive two-phase device with extremely high thermal conductivity because of the utility of phase transition. The liquid evaporates at the hot end and travels to the condenser at the cold end as vapor.
Implementation Method 2
The heat pipe is widely used in electronic cooling, thermal control of spacecraft, and energy recovery and storage since it can effectively transport large amount of heat between two solid interfaces over large distances with a small temperature difference.
Implementation Method 3
nanowick technology to enhance condensation and evaporation processes
Implementation Method 4
sweating-boosted air cooling enabled by nanowicks to enhance heat transfer in the air side
Implementation Method 5
employing a flow separation technique to improve air convection
Implementation Method 6
A. Bhattacharya and R. L. Mahajan demonstrated a finned metal foam heat sink with HTC of 1169 W/m2·K. The surface of the cooling ducts or fins can be roughened by a milling process, shaping process or fixing uniformly-spaced parallel square ribs orthogonal to the air flow.
Data Source
AI summary
Sweating-boosted air cooled heat-pipe condensers employing a nanowick micro fin structure to form a sweating boosted heat dissipation system, wherein the nanowicks may be layered.