NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF HEAT TRANSFER PHENOMENON IN A TWO-

PHASE CLOSED THERMOSYPHON

Zheshu MA* Jieer Wu°
*School of Mechanical and Power Engineering °College of Mathematics and Physics
Jiangsu University of Science and Technology Jiangsu University of Science and Technology
Zhenjiang, China, 212003, mazheshu@126.com Zhenjiang, China, 212003, wujieer@yahoo.com.cn

ABSTRACT

Two-phase closed thermosyphons are widely-used in energy industry, chemical industry, transportation industry and other
industries for their high heat transfer efficiency, simple construction and reliable operation performances. However,
performance parameters of two-phase closed thermosyphons including distribution of internal pressure and steam phase mass
fraction, liquid phase mass fraction, velocity and wall temperature are mainly gained by experimental investigation. In this
paper, numerical methods are discussed and two-fluid model is employed to describe two-phase flow and heat transfer
process in a two-phase closed thermosyphon. IPSA algorithm is employed to solve the coupled interaction of steam phase
and liquid phase along phase interface. Flow patterns and distribution of parameters under different conditions are gained.
Numerical results agree with experimental results well. Thus the numerical method and solution is practical and can be used
to numerically simulate flow and heat transfer phenomenon in thermosyphons and other types of heat pipes.

of-the-art IPSA algorithm [2-3] is employed to solve the

1. INTRODUCTION
Two-phase closed thermosyphons are widely-used in
energy industry, chemical industry, transportation industry
and other industries for their high heat transfer efficiency,
simple construction and reliable operation performances[1].
In order to analyze their running performance and further
design more efficiency and reliable two-phase closed
thermosyphons, designers and researchers must possess
sound understanding of internal two phase flow and heat
transfer phenomenon in thermosyphons which includes
temperature increase of liquid from environmental
temperature to boiling point, vapor release from saturated
liquid, vapor condensation to liquid, upward flow of
evaporated vapor and downward flow of condensed liquid,
and different flow regimes varying according to internal flow
characteristics dependent of working conditions of
thermosyphons. Since internal flow and heat transfer is very
complicated, performance parameters of two-phase closed
thermosyphons including distribution of internal pressure,
steam phase mass fraction, liquid phase mass fraction,
velocity and wall temperature are mainly gained by and even
relied on experimental investigation so far.
Numerical simulation which employs advanced
engineering mathematical and physical models and
calculation of high performance computers has been playing
more and more important role in most engineering fields for
its increasing efficiency and accuracy especially where
measurement can’t be reached and arranged. As to numerical
simulation of two phase flow phenomena in pipes, state-of-
solved.
coupled interaction of steam phase and liquid phase along
phase interface. Flow patterns and distribution of parameters
under different conditions are gained. Numerical results agree
with experimental results well.
2. FLOW HYPOTHESIS AND NUMERICAL MODELS
To numerically simulate the complex heat transfer and
two-phase flow phenomena in the studied thermosyphon, a
two-fluid model is employed. Two-fluid model provides an
effective means of representing the coexistence of laminar
and turbulent flows. It considers the system as composed of
two fluids that coexist simultaneously in time and space but
possess different volume fractions and can naturally reflect
the exchange of mass, momentum and energy between the
two fluids and is well suited to describe the whole
computational domain.
According to internal flow and heat transfer
characteristics of thermosyphons, following hypothesis are
employed [4-5]: (1)Physical property of working fluid is
constant, and vapor-liquid two phase fluid is saturated;(2)
Vapor and liquid flow are both laminar; (3)Liquid
evaporation and vapor condensation only occur in the vapor-
liquid interface; (4)Thickness of thermosyphons can be
omitted, i.e., omitting wall heat conduction; (5)The
calculating model is a two dimensional under stable state.
The basic equations describing the heat transfer and flow
of the vapor phase within the studied thermosyphon are
provided in (1) to (4).
Continuity equation for the vapor phase:
∂
(R1 ρ1u1 ) + ∂ (R1 ρ1v1 ) = m21
•

In this paper, numerical methods are discussed and two- (1)

∂x ∂y
fluid model is employed to describe two-phase flow and heat
transfer process in a two-phase closed thermosyphon. State- Momentum equations for the vapor phase:
 ∂ ∂ ∂P
( )
•
R1 ρ1u12 + (R1 ρ1u1v1 ) = − R1 m21 = J c / h fg (11)
∂x ∂y ∂x
here, hfg is vaporization latent heat of working liquid.
∂ 2 u1 •
+ R1 μ1 − F21 − R1 ρ1 g + m21 u1 − u 2 (2) Heat transfer rate between vapor phase and liquid phase,
∂y 2
J c , is defined by the sum of vapor phase heat transfer rate
∂
(R1 ρ1u1v1 ) + ∂ R1 ρ1v12 = − R1 ∂P
( ) J c1 and liquid phase heat transfer rate J c 2 .
∂x ∂y ∂y
J c = J c1 + J c 2 (12)
∂ 2v •
+ R1μ1 21 + m21 v1 − v2 J c1 = c2 R1 R2 ρ 2 (h1 − h1,s )
(3)
∂x (13)
Energy equation for the vapor phase: J c 2 = c3 R1 R2 ρ 2 (h2 − h2,s ) (14)

(R1 ρ 1u1h1 ) + ∂ (R1 ρ1v1h1 ) = R1 μ1 ⎜⎜ ∂ h21 ⎟⎟

∂ ⎛ 2 ⎞ Friction force between vapor phase and liquid phase,
∂x ∂y Pr1 ⎝ ∂y ⎠ F21 , can be described in Eq. (15).
• F21 = c1 R1 R2 ρ 2 (u2 − u1 ) (15)
+ m21 h1 − h2 + J c (4)
Here c1 , c 2 and c3 in Eq.(12)-Eq.(15) are different
The basic equations describing the heat transfer and the
empirical constants; while h1, s and h2,s are specific enthalpy
flow of the liquid phase within the studied thermosyphon are
given in equations (5) to (8). of vapor phase and liquid phase on phase interface,
Continuity equation for the liquid phase: respectively.
∂
(R2 ρ 2 u2 ) + ∂ (R2 ρ 2 v2 ) = − m21
•
(5)
∂x ∂y 3. NUMERICAL CALCULATION METHODS
Momentum equations for the liquid phase:
∂ ∂ ∂P
∂x
( ∂y
)
R2 ρ 2 u 22 + (R2 ρ 2 v2 u 2 ) = − R2
∂x
A conservative finite-volume method with staggered
variable arrangement [2] is used to solve the nonlinear,
coupled system of partial differential equations outlined in
∂ 2u 2 • the previous section. The solution domain is subdivided into
+ R2 μ 2 − m 21 u1 − u 2 + F21 − R2 ρ 2 g (6) small control volumes for scalar values and velocities. Nodal
∂y 2 values of scalar quantities are located in the geometric centre
∂
(R2 ρ 2 u 2 v2 ) + ∂ R2 ρ 2 v22 = − R2 ∂P
( ) of their control volumes. The velocities are stored on the
∂x ∂y ∂y scalar control volume faces.
Temporal derivatives are discretized by fully implicit
∂ v
2 •
firstorder backward differences. For the present test cases, the
+ R2 μ 2 22 − m21 v1 − v2 (7)
∂x equations arising from discretization can be assembled in
Energy equation for the liquid phase: form of a tridiagonal matrix which is solved with the direct
Thomas-algorithm.
(R2 ρ 2u 2 h2 ) + ∂ (R2 ρ 2 v2 h2 ) = R2 μ 2 ⎜⎜ ∂ h22 ⎟⎟
∂ ⎛ 2 ⎞ The discretized equations are numerically coupled by the
∂x ∂y Pr 2 ⎝ ∂y ⎠ iterative and segregated IPSA-method developed by
Spalding[3]. For each time step, the volume fractions and
• •
velocity fields are calculated with the previously obtained
− J c − m21 h1 − h2 + R2 Q (8) pressure field, followed by the solution of a pressure
In above formulas, R1 and R2 are volume fractions of correction equation derived from the overall mass
conservation requirement.
vapor phase and liquid phase respectively; m& 21 is mass
The values of pressure and velocities are then updated to
transfer rate between vapor phase and liquid phase, satisfy mass-conservation. They form the basis for
kg/（m3.s）; u1 and v1 are axial velocity and diametrical recalculating the flow variables in the next iteration. The
velocity of vapor phase respectively, m/s; u 2 and v 2 are axial IPSA-procedure is repeated until a pre-set convergence
velocity and diametrical velocity of liquid phase respectively, criterion is met.
As an additional convergence enhancement the Partial
m/s; μ1 and μ 2 are dynamic viscosity coefficients of vapor
Elimination Algorithm (PEA) as suggested by Spalding [3] is
phase and liquid phase respectively, N.s/m2; h1 and h2 are employed.
specific enthalpy of vapor phase and liquid phase Convergence of the method is declared after the sum of
respectively, kJ/kg ; F21 is friction force between vapor the absolute residual norms is below 0.001 for all variables.
phase and liquid phase, N; J c is heat transfer rate between
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
vapor phase and liquid phase, W/m3. Q& is heat addition to
the thermosyphon, W/m3. The thermosyphon studied in this paper employed water
During the numerical calculation, R1 and R2 must as the working media and the heat pipe was made of bronze
satisfy Eq. (9). [6]. The thermosyphon was about 1.1 meters long and its
R + R 2 = 1 .0 inner diameter and wall thickness are 25mm and 2.5mm
(10)
respectively. According to its working characteristics and
Mass transfer rate between vapor phase and liquid measurement results, lengths of evaporation section,
phase, m& 21 , can be described as Eq. (11). condensation section and isothermal section could be gained.
The axial length of the evaporation section is 510mm, the reached under real experimental conditions within adiabatic
axial length of condensation section is 420mm and the axial section.
length of isothermal section is 170mm. Heat addition density Figure 2 indicates the heat transfer coefficient in
is 10~60kW/m2. evaporation section under different heat addition densities.
With the increase of heat addition density which means a
373 higher total heat transfer quantity, the heat transfer coefficient
in evaporation section increases. Different from Fig.1, the
370 relationship between heat transfer coefficient and heat
Calculation data
计算值 addition density is non-linear. The calculation results fit the
Test data
实验值 experimental results better under the higher heat addition
367 densities (40kW/m2<q<60kW/m2) than lower heat addition
densities (10kW/m2<q<38kW/m2). Within the experimental
T （K）

364 range of heat addition densities, heat transfer coefficient of

the evaporation section of the thermosython could reach
361 4.6kW/m2.K.

358 12
0.48KW 1.00KW
1.54KW 1.97KW
355 10

352 8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

u 1 (m/s)
2 6
q (kW/m )
4
Figure 1 wall temperature in evaporation
section varying with heat addition density
2

0
4.6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Z (m)
4.3 Figure 3 axial velocity distribution of vapor phase
α (kW/m .K)

varying with heat addition density

2

4.0 Calculation data

计算值 0.00
Test data
实验值
3.7
-0.01
3.4
v 1 (m/s)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
2
q (kW/m ) -0.02
Figure 2 heat transfer coefficient varying
with heat addition density
-0.03
Figure 1 indicates the average wall temperature in
evaporation section under different heat addition densities. 1.97KW 1.54KW
With the increase of heat addition density which means a
1.00KW 0.48KW
higher total heat transfer quantity, the average wall -0.04
temperature in evaporation section increases. From Fig.1, one 0.000 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.010
can see the calculation results correspond with experimental
results well. The calculation results give out a linear R (m)
relationship between average temperature in evaporation Figure 4 Diametrical velocity distribution of vapor
section and heat addition density. The experimental results phase in evaporation section varying with heat
which bias a few from the line indicate effects from addition density
experimental means, method and test courses. Such biases
mainly came from absolute adiathermance couldn’t be
 Through numerical simulation, we can gain more plentiful
information of the heat transfer and two-phase flow details in
the thermosyphon which generally couldn’t be measured by
experimental investigation. Figure 3 gives out axial velocity
distribution of vapor phase under different heat addition
densities. With the increase of heat addition density, the axial
velocity of vapor phase increases. Under a certain heat
addition density, axial velocity increases gradually from zero
in the evaporation section and axial velocity decreases
gradually to zero in the condensation section while axial
velocity reaches maximum value in the adiabatic section
condensation section. The axial velocity of vapor phase could
reach 12m/s when heat addition density was 1.97kW, which
caused flow induced vibration and turbulence sufficiently.
5. CONCLUSIONS
Models to numerically simulate heat transfer and two-
phase flow within a certain thermosyphon are constructed.
Based on SIMPLE and IPSA algorithm, successful
calculations are gained. Related flow and heat transfer
characteristics are calculated under different working
conditions. On the other hand, IPSA algorithm is indicated
that it can be used to solve two phase flow problems
including phase change.
Gained calculation results correspond with experimental
results well. There is a linear relationship between average
temperature in evaporation section and heat addition density
while the relationship between heat transfer coefficient and
heat addition density is non-linear. Within the experimental
range of heat addition densities, heat transfer coefficient of
the evaporation section of the thermosython could reach
4.6kW/m2.K. With the increase of heat addition density, the
axial velocity of vapor phase increases. Axial velocity of
vapor phase is far larger than diametrical velocity of vapor
phase. But since diametrical velocity existed diversely, it
showed the flow in the thermosyphon is much complex and
numerical simulation provides more detailed information.
Since only a limited number of numerical simulation
studies on the internal vapor-liquid two-phase flow and heat
transfer details in heat pipes and thermosyphons have been
published [7-14], the numerical methodologies employed and
successfully used in this paper can be used as a basis for
further studies and hopefully in designing reliable hardware
development correlations.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is financially supported by the Qing-Lan
Project of Jiangsu Province for universities’ outstanding
youth skeleton teachers under contract No.161220605 and
the Startup-grant of Jiangsu University of Science and
Technology for academic research under contract
No.2005JD009J. The corresponding author also owes great
thanks to School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil
Engineering in the University of Manchester for providing
excellent collaborative research facilities.
NOMENCLATURE
F21 friction force between vapor phase and liquid phase,
N vol.15, no.10, pp.1963-1971, 2005.
h1 specific enthalpy of vapor phase, kJ/kg
h2 specific enthalpy of liquid phase, kJ/kg
hfg vaporization latent heat of working liquid, kJ/kg
J c1 vapor phase heat transfer rate
J c2 liquid phase heat transfer rate
Jc heat transfer rate between vapor phase and liquid
phase, W/m3
m& 21 mass transfer rate between vapor phase and liquid
phase, kg/（m3.s）
Q& heat addition rate, W/m3
R1 volume fraction of vapor phase
R2 volume fraction of liquid phase
u1 axial velocity of vapor phase, m/s
u2 axial velocity of liquid phase, m/s
v1 diametrical velocity of vapor phase, m/s
v2 diametrical velocity of liquid phase, m/s
μ1 dynamic viscosity coefficients of vapor, N.s/m2
μ2 dynamic viscosity coefficients of liquid phase, N.s/m2
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