Relation between evaporator and condenser lengths of a finless heat pipe to achieve a maximum heat flow per unit weight

Abstract Generally, it is an economic advantage to operate a heat pipein a condition where the ratio of heat flow rate, Q , to mass, m , is a maximum. It is shown that a maximum of the function Q / m may be obtained if the ratio between the evaporator and the condenser lengths is optimum. To achieve this optimization, all the other geometrical elements of the heat pipeand the heat transfer coefficients are considered constants, the only variables being the two lengths.