The University of Texas System

Renee Hale

Vaibhav Bahadur

A heat pipe with electrical pumping. The heat pipe includes a condenser to condense vapor into liquid droplets and an evaporator for the liquid-vapor conversion. Furthermore, the heat pipe includes liquid conduits for carrying the liquid droplets, where every liquid conduit includes electrodes for moving the liquid droplets along the liquid conduits. Additionally, the heat pipe includes vapor conduits for carrying the vapor. After the liquid is condensed and droplets are formed, they are electrically pumped towards the evaporator by sequentially actuating a series of electrodes in the liquid conduits. By implementing electrical pumping instead of wick-based pumping, the heat transport capacity over long distances is greatly increased. Additionally, since the electrical force is greater than gravity, it is possible to develop orientation independent long heat pipes. Other benefits include planar form factors, noiselessness, high reliability due to the absence of moving mechanical parts and ultralow power consumption.

Growing community of inventors

Austin, TX, United States of America

Renee Hale