Lancaster, Pennsylvania – May 31, 2005 – Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) has successfully demonstrated a new high temperature heat pipe technology. This work was performed for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Denver, Colorado, prime contractor of an Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Vehicle Directorate sponsored program related to heat pipe cooled leading edges for aerospace vehicles. CCS Associates, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania was also involved in the heat pipe design.
The heat pipe, fabricated in the shape of a wing leading edge, is designed to accept the heat generated on the leading edge by aero-heating and to dissipate the heat by radiation and convection from the remaining surface of the wing. The heat pipe is a full-scale modular section of a wing, approximately 4″ wide and 36″ long. The envelope and wick are made of a proprietary superalloy, and the working fluid is Lithium. The heat pipe is designed to operate at up to 1,100°C. The heat flux on the leading edge will be greater than 100W/cm2.
ACT is a developer and manufacturer of heat pipes, pumped liquid and two-phase loops, and thermal storage devices. ACT’s products and technologies have been used in temperature ranges from -150 to 1,100°C, for applications from spacecraft thermal control to catalytic reactor cooling to medical surgery temperature control.