Cooling with heat pipes

Highly effective heat transfer

Heat pipes are characterized by their capacity to transport large quantities of heat over a small area. Compared to a solid body of the same dimensions, a heat pipe transfers a greater amount of heat by a factor of 100 to 1,000. Heat pipes thus conduct heat more effectively than any other known material and are therefore suited for a wide range of applications. The following scenarios exemplify the various possible applications of heat pipes, which prove their advantages whenever highly effective, passive and compact heat transfer is required.

Electronics – heat dissipation for high-performance components

As the performance and packing density of electronic components increase, the waste heat generated in a confined space also rises dramatically. Around 55 percent of electronic component failures today can be attributed to increased temperatures. Heat pipes, in particular so-called pulsating heat pipes, can solve many heat dissipation issues by removing heat from hot spots effectively and with little space requirement.

Electromobility –  efficient heat management

The use of heat pipes as heat dissipators can significantly contribute to an efficient heat management in electric vehicles. Several advantages make it a future technology for sustainable mobility: Heat pipes are characterized by their low weight and do not require maintenance. Above all, however, their potential applications in electric vehicles extend to numerous components, parts and sections of the vehicle, such as inverters and battery stacks.

Aerospace – thermal management of satellite components

In future satellite generations, individual functional modules (e.g. telecommunications modules) may generate waste heat outputs of several kW. Furthermore, an increasing number of compact and lightweight nanosatellites with closely arranged components of high thermal power density are being used. In addition to the use of conventional separate heat pipes, the almost limitless design freedom of 3D printing allows heat pipes to be integrated directly into complex three-dimensional structures.

Heat-switching heat pipes – suitable for a wide range of applications, e.g. in aerospace

Fraunhofer IPM is collaborating with other Fraunhofer institutes on a new generation of thermal switches based on switchable heat pipes. The switchable heat pipes are compact and do not require any moving parts. A demonstrator was built at Fraunhofer IPM with a switching temperature of around 60 °C and a switching factor – i.e., the ratio of thermal conductivity in the on and off states – of around 50. The dimensions, design, and switching temperature can be adapted for different applications. The dimensions, design and switching temperature can be adapted for different applications. As a specific application, the temperature regulation of components in spacecraft such as satellites is currently being investigated.