Mathematical Modelling and Parameter Optimization of Pulsating Heat Pipes

TL;DR

This paper develops a simplified mathematical model for pulsating heat pipes and employs the firefly algorithm for efficient parameter estimation, demonstrating good predictive capability and effective use of limited experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified two-phase heat transfer model for PHP and applies the firefly algorithm for parameter optimization with limited data.

Findings

Model accurately predicts startup characteristics of PHP.

Firefly algorithm efficiently estimates key parameters.

Limited experimental data suffices for reliable parameter estimation.

Abstract

Proper heat transfer management is important to key electronic components in microelectronic applications. Pulsating heat pipes (PHP) can be an efficient solution to such heat transfer problems. However, mathematical modelling of a PHP system is still very challenging, due to the complexity and multiphysics nature of the system. In this work, we present a simplified, two-phase heat transfer model, and our analysis shows that it can make good predictions about startup characteristics. Furthermore, by considering parameter estimation as a nonlinear constrained optimization problem, we have used the firefly algorithm to find parameter estimates efficiently. We have also demonstrated that it is possible to obtain good estimates of key parameters using very limited experimental data.