Heat Pipe Materials Compatibility

An experimental program to evaluate noncondensable gas generation in ammonia heat pipes was completed. A total of 37 heat pipes made of aluminum, stainless steel and combinations of these materials were processed by various techniques, operated at different temperatures and tested at low temperature to quantitatively determine gas generation rates. In order of increasing stability are aluminum/stainless combination, all aluminum and all stainless heat pipes. One interesting result is the identification of intentionally introduced water in the ammonia during a reflux step as a means of surface passivation to reduce gas generation in stainless-steel/aluminum heat pipes