Performance Evaluation of an Aluminum-Acetone Heat Pipe Onboard the Amazonia-1 Satellite
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/jatm.v18.1422Keywords:
Heat pipes, Non-condensable gases, Performance limits, Experimental investigation, Space environment, Space telemetryAbstract
The Heat Pipes and TUCA Experiment (an acronym for tubo de calor, which means heat pipe in Portuguese) project, conducted by the National Institute for Space Research, focuses on developing and qualifying a fully Brazilian low-pressure heat pipe technology for satellite thermal control. This initiative builds on research begun in 2003, when INPE demonstrated the feasibility of acetone-based heat pipes as an alternative to ammonia systems supplied internationally. The use of acetone in aluminum heat pipes offers key advantages, including lower toxicity and reduced operating pressure. To support data interpretation, a ground-based replica of the TUCA experiment, named RTUCA, was manufactured and tested before launch. The main objective of this work is to investigate whether non-condensable gases (NCGs) have formed inside the aluminum-acetone heat pipe of the TUCA experiment aboard the Amazonia-1 satellite. This assessment considers the effects of long-term exposure to cosmic radiation since the satellite’s launch on February 28, 2021, while the system remains operational in orbit. Additionally, the study compares the thermal behavior of the heat pipe under microgravity conditions with pre-launch ground tests and with results from the RTUCA setup, which intentionally contains a small amount of NCG. These comparisons contribute to a better understanding of heat pipe performance in the potential presence of non-condensable gases.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Renan Gomes Rosa, Cristiano Enke, Valeri Vlassov Vladimirovich, Rafael Lopes Costa, Adaiana Francisca Gomes da Silva
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