High-Temperature Thermal Management

Soon after heat pipes for nuclear reactor thermal management were developed in the 1960s, Thermacore began development and application work in the use of high-temperature heat pipes for a wide array of government and commercial applications.

Today, Thermacore's high-temperature heat pipes are used in applications ranging from the ocean floor to lunar surfaces. Thermacore high temperature heat pipe technology satisfies demanding requirements in aerospace, chemical processing, annealing, furnace liner isothermality, semiconductor material crystal growth, oil-shale extraction and a wide range of high-tech electronics, heat dissipation and heat uniformity applications.

Thermacore high-temperature heat pipes enable:

• High power heat transfer capabilities (>25kW)
• High-heat flux cooling capability (>100 kW/cm²)
• High-precision temperature control and rapid temperature recovery
• Isothermality (i.e. equal or constant temperatures) at high temperatures
• Uniform material crystal growth
• Thermal-to-electric energy conversion energy savings

High-Technology Uses

Today’s cutting-edge technologies need high-temperature heat pipes to deliver the performance their applications require. These include:

• Commercial products — temperature and thermocouple calibration furnaces; isothermality for semiconductor crystal growth furnaces
• Vapor deposition processes
• Black body radiators
• Diffusion furnaces
• Annealing furnaces
• Temperature calibration
• Thermophysical property characterization
• Materials processing

Technology and Development:

• Thermionic converters
• Alkali Metal Thermal-to-Electric Converters (AMTEC)
• Stirling engines interfaces for concentrated solar receivers
• Thermal storage
• Engine components
• Aerospace and rocket nozzles
• High temperature space radiators
• Magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thrusters
• Isotope separation
• Fusion power