ACT’s New High-Heat-Flux Constant Conductance Heat Pipes (CCHPs) Triple Performance
Lancaster, PA March 6, 2018 – Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) announced today that its new hybrid wick Constant Conductance Heat Pipes (CCHPs) for spacecraft applications have demonstrated a more than 3x improvement in heat flux capability, compared to current standard products. Testing of the CCHP, seen in Fig 1., was performed by Lockheed Martin under NASA SBIR-Phase II program at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) with Dr. Jeff Farmer as the technical monitor. The testing showed the ACT’s new Hybrid Wick Technology could transfer a heat flux of at least 50 W/cm2, where the testing was terminated. Standard CCHPs performance starts degrading at 15 W/cm2, when they begin to exhibit dry out conditions.
According to Dr. Mohammed Ababneh, ACT’s Principal Investigator on this project, “We were pleased to see the results from Lockheed Martin confirm our in-house test results. We believe the hybrid wick CCHPs will address a need for more demanding spacecraft thermal performance.”
A CCHP transports heat over long distances (up to 10 feet or more) from a heat source to a heat sink with a very small temperature difference. CCHPs have been a proven technology for spacecraft thermal control for more than 40 years and ACT is approaching 25 million hours in orbit for their CCHP product line.
Future spacecraft and instruments developed for space missions will involve highly integrated electronics, such as for CubeSat/SmallSat and high power laser diode arrays (LDAs). This high density electronics packaging leads to substantial improvement in performance per unit mass, volume and power. However, it also requires sophisticated thermal control technology to dissipate the high heat flux generated by these electronics systems.
“With the assistance and support of Jeff Framer, MSFC and Lockheed Martin, we have demonstrated a solution for that need”, concluded Dr. Ababneh.
To learn more visit ACT Spacecraft Thermal Control.
For even more, read our case study on how ACT uses a hybrid wick to increase the allowable evaporator heat flux in Constant Conductance Heat Pipes (CCHPs) by more than a factor of three.
ABOUT ACT
ACT specializes in advanced thermal technology development and custom thermal product manufacturing. ACT designs and manufactures cold plates, HiK™ plates, heat pipes, pumped liquid and two-phase loops and thermal storage devices for customers in diverse markets including Aerospace, Electronics, Temperature Calibration, Medical Device, and Energy Recovery Systems.
ACT’s team consists of personnel with established track records in technology development, commercialization and production. Many of them were involved in the pioneering work on heat pipes, loop heat pipes and other single and two-phase heat transfer devices. They are the inventors/co-inventors on numerous U.S. and international patents and the authors/co-authors of hundreds of scientific publications.
ACT’s Facility measures more than 50,000 square feet, including office, laboratory and manufacturing spaces. With an ISO9001 and AS9100 certified quality system in place, the facility has designed and manufactured high quality, cost effective, thermal management solutions for dozens of mission critical satellite, and military programs as well as for numerous commercial applications. Simultaneously ACT’s broad and diverse R&D efforts are developing thermal solutions for tomorrow’s emerging technologies.
For more information about ACT, please visit www.1-ACT.com.
MEDIA CONTACT
Amanda Hershey
Marketing Specialist
E-mail: Amanda.Hershey@1-ACT.com
Phone: +1 (717) 205-0625