Background

Development and Applications of Heat Pipes:
Heat Pipes were first invented in 1964 at Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico to aid in thermal energy transfer in military and aerospace fields. Because jet engines and other new military technologies of the time were slowly becoming very integrated, causing the electronics and other mechanics to reach far higher temperatures than before. These high temperatures could be damaging to the surroundings of the heat source if not transported to a heat sink, allowing the heat to spread and escape in a cooler area of the engine or other device.

Due to increasing demand of compact products with high capabilities, heat pipes have been forced to evolve and adapt with these evolving technologies. Heat pipes are such effective cooling devices because they perform a two-phase heat transfer, requiring no added external energy. Heat pipes have various applications ranging from cooling CPUs in desktops to managing the thermal energy exchange within our homes.

Examples of Modern Heat Pipes:

The following images show a system of heat pipes arranged to fit a desktop and a look at the inside of a copper heat pipe:





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