Week 3 Update

Week three was our group's time to order all of our materials. We successfully ordered our liquids which were methanol and acetone. Methanol already arrived and acetone is still on its way. Our group is going to use distilled water in our heat pipe, not normal tap water. We will be able to get distilled water from the Disque building because water distilling machines are in the hallway hooked up to the water fountains.
Our group member Jeffery was able to bring copper pipe from home in order to save money on our budget. We will be able to begin assembly of our heat pipe in the following lab. Our plan is to thread one end of the copper pipe and put a threaded cap on the end. This allows for a tight seal and an opening to insert an appropriate liquid.

Week Two Update

Figure 1: 3-D Model of One End of Heat Pipe

Week two was yet another research week, consisting of mainly identifying appropriate working fluids for our type of material, copper.  The decision was made to test three different fluids with this project being, Acetone, Methanol, and Water.

As shown above in Figure 1 developments were also made on the CAD based drawings through SOLIDWORKS.  Figure 1 displays a design with grooves running throughout the pipe and a thread on one end, this was the design originally planned on although changes could be made as testing occurs.  The above design in Figure 1 was taken and transferred into a 2-D model which displays each viewing angle which will be used as a basis for fabrication of the design.

Figure 2: 2-D Multiple Angle View of Heat Pipe

Week One Update

Figure 1: Heat Pipe Construction Diagram

Our heat pipe will composed of copper pipe and end caps, one end of which will be threaded to allow for changing of heat transfer fluids. It will have vertical groves to act as a wick. It will measure 2 ft. in length and 5/8 in. in diameter. This pipe will be designed as if it were to be used in a solar water heater, such as the commercially available one below. 

Figure 2: Apricus Solar Collector

(http://www.apricus.com/html/solar_collector.htm#.WO2AcYgrJPZ)