Study of a new thin flat loop heat pipe for electronics

In this paper, a simple but detailed new theoretical model is developed for a thin loop heat pipe (LHP) to predict: the overall thermal resistance, the temperature distribution, the heat transfer rate, the heat leakage by conduction and the length of single and two-phase working fluid flows within the condenser. The theoretical results were confronted with experimental data of a mini flat LHP, manufactured using sintering and diffusion bonding processes. The working fluid used was water. A workbench, capable of simulating the actual operating conditions of a modern chip processor, with 1 cm(2) of heat dissipating area, as found in smartphones and other electronic gadgets, was used to evaluate the LHP thermal performance. The tested LHP had dimensions of 76 x 60 x 1.6 mm(3). The cold source was natural air convection to the surroundings. The device operated successfully in the orientations: horizontal, gravity-assisted, and against gravity. Tests were conducted until the evaporator reached 100 degrees C, the limit temperature of electronics, resulting in overall thermal resistances of 0.37 degrees C/W, 0.47 degrees C/W and 0.44 degrees C/W, respectively. The model could successfully predict all steady-state operational parameters of the LHP with small deviations, proving to be suitable for designing new LHPs and other thin devices. The difference between predicted and measured resistances were within 5.64%, while between predicted and measured temperatures were within 3.30%. Lastly, the heat leak from the evaporator to the liquid line had a deviation of 16.62%. The LHP, although very thin, showed to be a good solution for cooling small electronic gadgets, such as mobile smartphones.