Heat Pipe Assemblies
ACT designs and
manufactures heat
pipes in-house.
Copper/water heat pipes are made of copper, use water as a working fluid and typically operate in the temperature range of 20 to 150°C. ACT manufactures copper/water heat pipes into two basic geometries: Tubular Heat Pipes and Planar Heat Pipes. The tubular heat pipes typically have outer diameters from 1/16" (1.5mm) to 1.5" (38mm). Custom diameters can be manufactured per customer requirements. The planar heat pipes are also called vapor chambers which are used as heat spreaders. Below are photos of examples of copper/water heat pipes manufactured at ACT.
Copper/water heat pipes are often combined with other components to form heat transfer assemblies. Some examples are shown below, including:
Heat pipe heat sink
- Heat pipe heat sinks for electronics and energy conversion device cooling
- Embedded heat pipe heat spreaders for electronics cooling
- Heat pipe heat exchangers for electronics enclosure cooling, waste heat recovery and chemical process temperature control
Current custom designs and options include:
- Outer diameter (OD): From 1/16" (1.5mm) to 1.5" (38mm)
- Cross section geometry: round, rectangular or flattened
- Length: any, depending on application
- Geometry: straight or multiple bends (certain bend radius limits apply)
- Bonding of heat pipes to assembly: mechanical, epoxy or soldering
- Heat pipe surface coating: nickel or tin
All of ACT's copper/water heat pipes are designed to survive numerous freeze/thaw cycles without any degradation as required by many outdoor applications.