Heat pipe heat rejection system

A prototype of a battery heat rejection system was developed which uses heat pipes for more efficient heat removal and for temperature control of the cells. The package consists of five thermal mock-ups of 100 amp-hr prismatic cells. Highly conductive spacers fabricated from honeycomb panels into which heat pipes are embedded transport the heat generated by the cells to the edge of the battery. From there it can be either rejected directly to a cold plate or the heat flow can be controlled by means of two variable conductance heat pipes. The thermal resistance between the interior of the cells and the directly attached cold plate was measured to be 0.08 F/Watt for the 5-cell battery. Compared to a conductive aluminum spacer of equal weight the honeycomb/heat pipe spacer has approximately one-fifth of the thermal resistance. In addition, the honeycomb/heat pipe spacer virtually eliminates temperature gradients along the cells.