Analytical and Numerical Solutions of Vapor Flow in a Flat Plate Heat Pipe

In this paper, the optimal homotopy analysis method (OHAM) and differential transform method (DTM) were applied to solve the problem of 2D vapor flow in flat plate heat pipes. The governing partial differential equations for this problem were reduced to a non-linear ordinary differential equation, and then non-dimensional velocity profiles and axial pressure distributions along the entire length of the heat pipe were obtained using homotopy analysis, differential transform, and numerical fourth-order Runge-Kutta methods. The reliability of the two analytical methods was examined by comparing the analytical results with numerical ones. A brief discussion about the advantages of the two applied analytical methods relative to each other is presented. Furthermore, the effects of the Reynolds number and the ratio of condenser to evaporator lengths on the flow variables were discussed. Graphical abstract