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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Elimination or control of material problems in water heat pipes. Final report, January 1, 1974--March 30, 1976

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7123403
A definition was made of a water heat pipe for use with a parabolic cylindrical solar collector that will operate in the temperature range of ambient to 300/sup 0/C, and a literature survey was conducted on the problem of noncondensable gas generation in water heat pipes. Heat pipes measuring 76 cm long were fabricated from 316 SS, 347 SS, 430 SS, Monel 400, CDA 715, Inconel 600, Incoloy 800, and copper-lined 304 SS. Of all the materials tested, Inconel 600 appeared to be the most acceptable for full-scale water heat pipes. Inconel 600 generated only a small amount of hydrogen gas and, due to the high permeation rate of the gas through this material, self-vented the hydrogen over a relatively short time period. An equation, based on a diffusion dependent mechanism, was developed that predicts the heat pipe performance recovery rate. A procedure was developed for fabricating the full-scale heat pipes.
Research Organization:
McDonnell Douglas Astronautics West, Huntington Beach, CA (USA)
OSTI ID:
7123403
Report Number(s):
NSF/RANN/SE/AER-(74)-02056/FR/76/1; MDC-G-5481F
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English