Effect of using ethanol and methanol on thermal performance of a closed loop pulsating heat pipe (CLPHP) with different filling ratios

This paper presents an experimental study of a closed loop Pulsating Heat Pipe (CLPHP) as the demand of smaller and effective heat transfer devices is increasing day by day. PHP is a two phase heat transfer device suited for heat transfer applications, especially suited for handling moderate to high heat fluxes in different applications. A copper made Pulsating Heat Pipe (PHP) of 250 mm length is used in this experimental work with 2 mm ID and 3 mm OD, closed end-to-end in 8 looped, evacuated and then partially filled with working fluids. The evaporation section is 50 mm, adiabatic section is 120 mm and condensation section is 80 mm. The performance characterization is done for two working fluids at Vertical (0°) orientations. The working fluids are Methanol and Ethanol and the filling ratios are 40%, 50%, 60% & 70% based on total volume, respectively. The results show that the influence of various parameters, the heat input flux, and different filling ratios on a heat transfer performance of CLPHP. Methanol shows better performance as working fluid in PHP than ethanol at present orientation for a wide range of heat inputs and can be used at high heat input conditions. Ethanol is better choice to be used in low heat input conditions.