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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