HOMOGENEOUS NUCLEATION AND THE HEAT-PIPE
BOILING LIMITATION

D. Mishkinis and J. M. Ochterbeck

UDC 536.24

Criteria for phase change in classical heat pipes and 
loop heat pipes with microporous capillary structures of wicks have 
been formulated and developed. The criteria are based on homogeneous 
nucleation and cluster theory to evaluate the superheat required for 
phase change to occur in microchannels. The results can be employed 
in analyzing the limiting operational criteria and heat-transfer capacity 
of heat pipes based on the boiling limit.

Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631; email: Donatas@CLEMSON.EDU. 
Published in Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 76, No. 4, pp. 61-64, 
July-August, 2003. Original article submitted December 24, 2002.