Resumen
Various types of heat pipes are available to purchase off the shelf, from various manufacturers, but most of them have strictly defined geometry and technical parameters. However, when there is a need to use a heat pipe (HP) with an unusual size and shape or working conditions other than the standard ones, it becomes very costly to order them from manufacturers, especially in small quantities, and only a few producers are willing to fulfill such an order. This paper presents a detailed description and step-by-step method of manufacturing and testing a low-cost HP with specific properties and geometry, cooperating with a modular heat recovery system based on the use of phase change materials (PCM) for electromobility applications. The presented heat pipes were made entirely by hand, primarily with the use of basic workshop tools, without the use of specialized and automated CNC machines. Utensils used during the process were either made by hand or using desktop FDM 3D printers. During the evaluation of heat pipes? performance within PCM (coconut oil), simple statistical functions were used. One-dimensional and two-dimensional histograms were used to visualize data obtained during this research. The presented method allows the manufacturing of heat pipes that are, on average, able to melt about 35% more PCM than an empty copper pipe with the exact same geometry. The HPs? performance in coconut oil was evaluated on the basis of their future applications.