The proposed research will have scientific, technological, educational, and societal impacts relevant to power plant cooling. Currently power plant cooling represents the second largest source of water withdrawl in the United States. The research forms the basis upon which current dry cooling tower technologies could be potentially transformed, leading to reduced water consumption for power plant cooling. In addition to supporting graduate students, research experiences will be provided for undergraduates. The proposed concept will also have a broad-based, beneficial impact on applications ranging from high power electronic cooling to large scale data center and server thermal management.
This collaborative exploratory effort, involving investigators at The University of Kansas and The University of Connecticut, involves the innovative integration of two-phase, closed thermosyphons or heat pipes with heat transfer augmentation techniques to develop a new heat exchanger concept with expected very low air-side thermal resistance. The heat transfer augmentation techniques include, specifically, judicious use of porous metal foams or fins on the air side of the thermosyphons. A new physics-based continuum physical model will be developed that will describe the pertinent multi-phase, multi-domain, three-dimensional transient heat transfer occurring within an integrated two-phase, closed thermosyphon heat exchanger. The heat and mass transfer effects within the two-phase, closed thermosyphon are coupled to heat transfer phenomena external to the thermosyphon-heat pipe, specifically on the air- and cooling water sides of the thermosyphon. This physics-based model will provide the necessary insight to understand the pertinent heat transfer phenomena and how they interact to reduce the overall thermal resistance of the device. The physical model will be validated by conducting a set of carefully-designed experiments.
