Heat pipe cooling system with sensible heat sink

A heat pipe cooling system which employs a sensible heat sink is discussed. With this type of system, incident aerodynamic heat is transported via a heat pipe from the stagnation region to the heat sink and absorbed by raising the temperature of the heat sink material. The use of a sensible heat sink can be advantageous for situations where the total mission heat load is limited, as it is during re-entry, and a suitable radiation sink is not available

Heat pipe cooling for scramjet engines

Liquid metal heat pipe cooling systems have been investigated for the combustor liner and engine inlet leading edges of scramjet engines for a missile application. The combustor liner is cooled by a lithium-TZM molybdenum annular heat pipe, which incorporates a separate lithium reservoir. Heat is initially absorbed by the sensible thermal capacity of the heat pipe and liner, and subsequently by the vaporization and discharge of lithium to the atmosphere. The combustor liner temperature is maintained at 3400 F or less during steady-state cruise. The engine inlet leading edge is fabricated as a sodium-superalloy heat pipe. Cooling is accomplished by radiation of heat from the aft surface of the leading edge to the atmosphere. The leading edge temperature is limited to 1700 F or less. It is concluded that heat pipe cooling is a viable method for limiting scramjet combustor liner and engine inlet temperatures to levels at which structural integrity is greatly enhanced