Method using heat pipes with multiple evaporator/condenser zones and heat exchangers using same

Abstract

Elongated, smaller-diameter tube heat pipes have an airflow arrangement that allows for short distances between evaporating and condensing sections of the heat pipe. The heat pipe is exposed to multiple alternate hot and cold zones adjacent to each other. Each evaporator zone accepts input heat to cause evaporation of the working fluid in the wick of the immediate vicinity. The vapor produced moves to either side by local pressure differences to condense in the two adjacent condenser zones where it is absorbed by the wick as a liquid and flows in the wick back to adjacent evaporator zones at each side. Each evaporator zone creates two fluid loops whereby evaporated working fluid splits up left and right, condenses in adjacent condenser zones and flows back to the evaporator zone as a liquid within the wick. Therefore, the overall tube length can be increased indefinitely, without traditional degradation of performance.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A heat pipe heat exchanger comprising at least one elongated small diameter heat pipe with multiple evaporator/condenser zones in a single heat pipe having a wick associated therewith;
 said at least one elongated, smaller-diameter tube heat pipe having an external arrangement providing short distances between evaporating and condensing sections of said at least one heat pipe;   said at least one heat pipe being exposed to multiple alternate hot evaporator and cold condenser zones adjacent to each other, wherein each evaporator zone accepts input heat to cause internal evaporation of the working fluid in a wick region of said wick in an immediate vicinity of each said evaporation zone;   said at least one heat pipe producing vapor moving to either side of said at least one heat pipe by local pressure differences to condense in the two adjacent condenser zones, where said vapor is absorbed by said wick as a liquid and flows said liquid in said wick back to adjacent evaporator zones at each side of said at least one heat pipe;   each said evaporator zone creating two fluid loops whereby evaporated working fluid splits up left and right, condensing in adjacent condenser zones and said working fluid flows back to the respective evaporator zone as a liquid within said wick,   whereby the overall tube length of said at least one heat pipe can be increased indefinitely, without traditional degradation of performance.   
     
     
         2 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 1 , wherein said at least one elongated heat pipe is a plurality of elongated heat pipes laid parallel to each other. 
     
     
         3 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 1 , wherein said vapor produced moves to either side by local pressure differences to condense in the two adjacent condenser zones where said vapor is absorbed by said wick as a liquid and flows in the wick back to adjacent evaporator zones at each side, wherein further each said evaporator zone creates two fluid loops whereby evaporated working fluid splits up left and right, condensing in respective adjacent condenser zones and flows back to the evaporator zone as a liquid within the wick. 
     
     
         4 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 3 , wherein said heat pipe heat exchanger is an air to air heat pipe heat exchanger. 
     
     
         5 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 3 , wherein said heat pipe heat exchanger is a liquid to liquid heat pipe heat exchanger. 
     
     
         6 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 3 , wherein said heat pipe heat exchanger is a liquid to air heat pipe heat exchanger. 
     
     
         7 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 3 , wherein said heat pipe heat exchanger is an air to liquid heat pipe heat exchanger. 
     
     
         8 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein said heat pipe heat exchanger comprises partitions separating each said evaporator/condenser hot and cold zones. 
     
     
         9 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 2 , wherein said plurality of heat pipes run parallel to each other through common fins; said parallel heat pipes being passive independent entities and not being interconnected fluidically. 
     
     
         10 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 9 , wherein said plurality of heat pipes form a flat rectangular array. 
     
     
         11 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 9 , wherein multiple rows of heat pipes are staggered in each row. 
     
     
         12 . The heat pipe as in  claim 9 , further comprising a four sided housing around the sides of the heat pipe/fin unit, leaving respective fins exposed on top and bottom portions of said heat pipe heat exchanger. 
     
     
         13 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 12 , further comprising at least one air flow manifold being provided on each said top and bottom portions of said heat pipe heat exchanger. 
     
     
         14 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 13 , wherein each said manifold on said respective top and bottom portions of said heat pipe are triangular manifolds with divider flanges sealing along the ends of respective fins thereby creating said multiple adjacent evaporator/condenser zones along each said the heat pipes. 
     
     
         15 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 14 , wherein air flow through each pair of said manifolds is parallel flow, relative to each other 
     
     
         16 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 14 , wherein air flow through each pair of said manifolds is cross flow, relative to each other 
     
     
         17 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein in said heat pipe heat exchanger at least one respective pair of hot evaporator and cold condenser zones are internally isolated by a torus shaped plug, said torus shaped plug limiting liquid flow within said wick to the length of each respective hot evaporator and cold condenser zone;
 each said torus shaped plug having a central hole permitting vapor to flow therethrough to respective adjacent hot evaporator and cold condenser zones;   thereby counteracting pooling or puddling of said liquid within said wick along said heat pipe heat exchanger due to gravity in cases of significant deviation from horizontal positioning, buckling or sagging of said heat pipe heat exchanger.   
     
     
         18 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 17 , wherein said at least one respective pair of hot evaporator and cold condenser zones are a plurality of groups of pairs of hot evaporator and cold condenser zones. 
     
     
         19 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 1  further comprising a dehumidification system having a cooling coil being placed underneath said heat pipe heat exchanger with baffles maintaining respective zone separations, wherein further under said cooling coil section is provided a drain pan with baffles separating each respective evaporator/condenser pair such that incoming air passes through each respective input manifold passageway and through said heat pipe then down through said cooling coil, then reversing direction through a drip pan, up through a cooling coil, further up through said heat pipe, and then discharging through an exhaust port of said manifold, wherein the air flow is a two-pass dehumidification cycle. 
     
     
         20 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 19 , wherein said manifold is triangular. 
     
     
         21 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 19 , further comprising at least one damper therein 
     
     
         22 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 13 , further comprising at least one damper in said manifold. 
     
     
         23 . The heat pipe heat exchanger as in  claim 1  further comprising said heat pipe being a rigid finned tube with fins transferring heat outward. 
     
     
         24 . A heat pipe heat exchanger comprising at least one elongated small diameter heat pipe with multiple evaporator/condenser zones in a single heat pipe;
 said at least one elongated, smaller-diameter tube heat pipe having an airflow arrangement providing short distances between evaporating and condensing sections of said at least one heat pipe;   said at least one heat pipe being exposed to multiple alternate hot evaporator and cold condenser zones adjacent to each other within said heat pipe, wherein each evaporator zone in said heat pipe accepts input heat to cause evaporation of the working fluid;   said at least one heat pipe producing vapor moving to either side of said at least one heat pipe by local pressure differences to condense in two adjacent condenser zones;   each said evaporator zone creating two fluid loops whereby evaporated working fluid splits up left and right, condensing in adjacent condenser zones and said working fluid flows back to the respective evaporator zone as a liquid,   said heat pipe having external partitions separating respective hot and cold air flows, wherein vapor evaporating into a section partitions into a right and a left drift to a respective adjacent condensing section from each respective evaporating section, wherein liquid flows in both directions toward adjacent evaporator sections, wherein said flow generates short loops of vapor/liquid within said heat pipe.   whereby the overall tube length of said at least one heat pipe can be increased indefinitely, without traditional degradation of performance.   
     
     
         25 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 24 , wherein in said heat pipe heat exchanger said at least one respective pair of hot evaporator and cold condenser zones are internally isolated by a torus shaped plug, said torus shaped plug limiting liquid flow within said heat pipe heat exchanger to the length of each respective hot evaporator and cold condenser zone;
 each said torus shaped plug having a central hole permitting vapor to flow therethrough to respective adjacent hot evaporator and cold condenser zones;   thereby counteracting pooling or puddling of said liquid within said heat pipe heat exchanger due to gravity in cases of significant deviation from horizontal positioning, buckling or sagging of said heat pipe heat exchanger.   
     
     
         26 . The heat pipe heat exchanger of  claim 25 , wherein said at least one respective pair of hot evaporator and cold condenser zones are a plurality of groups of pairs of hot evaporator and cold condenser zones. 
     
     
         27 . A method of heat exchange comprising the steps of providing at least one elongated small diameter heat pipe with multiple evaporator/condenser zones in a single heat pipe;
 providing said at least one elongated, smaller-diameter tube heat pipe with an airflow arrangement providing short distances between evaporating and condensing sections of said at least one heat pipe;   exposing said at least one heat pipe to multiple alternate hot evaporator and cold condenser zones adjacent to each other, wherein each evaporator zone accepts input heat to cause evaporation of the working fluid in a region in an immediate vicinity of each said evaporation zone;   using said at least one heat pipe to produce vapor and moving said vapor to either side of said at least one heat pipe by local pressure differences to condense in the two adjacent condenser zones, where said vapor is absorbed as a liquid and flows back to adjacent evaporator zones at each side of said at least one heat pipe;   each said evaporator zone creating two fluid loops whereby evaporated working fluid splits up left and right, condensing in adjacent condenser zones and said working fluid flows back to the respective evaporator zone as a liquid within said evaporator zone,   whereby the overall tube length of said at least one heat pipe can be increased indefinitely, without traditional degradation of performance.   
     
     
         28 . The method of heat exchange as in  claim 27 , further comprising the step of providing a plurality of elongated heat pipes laid parallel to each other. 
     
     
         29 . The method of heat exchange as in  claim 27 , wherein said vapor produced moves to either side by local pressure differences to condense in the two adjacent condenser zones where said vapor is absorbed by a wick in said at least one heat pipe as a liquid and flows in the wick back to adjacent evaporator zones at each side, wherein further each said evaporator zone creates two fluid loops whereby evaporated working fluid splits up left and right, condensing in respective adjacent condenser zones and flows back to the evaporator zone as a liquid within the wick. 
     
     
         30 . The method of heat exchange as in  claim 27  further system comprising the steps of:
 placing a cooling coil being placed underneath said heat pipe heat exchanger with baffles maintaining respective zone separations to provide dehumidification, 
 providing a drain pan under said cooling coil section; passing incoming air through each respective input manifold passageway and through said heat pipe then down through said cooling coil, then reversing direction through a drip pan, up through a cooling coil, further up through said heat pipe, and then discharging through an exhaust part of said manifold, wherein the air flow is a two-pass dehumidification cycle. 
 
     
     
         31 . The method as in  claim 27 , wherein in said heat pipe heat exchanger at least one respective pair of hot evaporator and cold condenser zones are internally isolated by a torus shaped plug, said torus shaped plug limiting liquid flow within said wick to the length of each respective hot evaporator and cold condenser zone;
 each said torus shaped plug having a central hole permitting vapor to flow therethrough to respective adjacent hot evaporator and cold condenser zones;   thereby counteracting pooling or puddling of said liquid within said wick along said heat pipe heat exchanger due to gravity in cases of significant deviation from horizontal positioning, buckling or sagging of said heat pipe heat exchanger.   
     
     
         32 . The method as in  claim 31 , wherein said at least one respective pair of hot evaporator and cold condenser zones are a plurality of groups of pairs of hot evaporator and cold condenser zones.