Heat Pipe

A heat pipe is a device that conducts heat. Discovered in 1930, it employs a closed system containing a fluid in vapor-liquid equilibrium. At the hot interface of a heat pipe, the device absorbs the heat emitted by a source through evaporation (changing the liquid to vapor). The vapor produced travels along the heat pipe to the cold interface and condenses back into a liquid, releasing the latent heat. The liquid then returns to the hot interface through gravity or capillary action. Heat pipes have much higher thermal conductivity than common metals such as copper or aluminum.