Study on thermal performance of vertical gravity-assisted heat pipes for irradiation capsules

The heat pipe has widely been used in various fields for many years. In order to use it for controlling temperature of the irradiation capsules in the JMTR, the thermal performance calculations for the wickless, the grooved and the homogeneous mesh wicked heat pipes in the vertical gravity-assisted mode were made. The calculated results prove that the former two are preferable to be used at the high working temperatures (over 200degC) and the last one is better for being used at the low temperatures (below 120degC). All the calculated results, some analyses and discussions are presented in this report. (author)