How do Noctua's heat pipes work exactly?

[mint-ch]

I've been looking at both Noctua NH-D14 and NH-C14 and I can't help but wonder how the heat is actually transported away from the CPU? Is there air flowing inside the pipes or is it solid metal or something else?

From looking at the backside it would seem the pipes are not connected so no back and forth flow would be possible. (View from the other side). How is the exchange of heat ensured?

 

[MeteorsRaining]

Basic science, metals are good conductors of heat, heatpipes transfer heat to the heatsink, that sponge like metal block, and fans blow the heat away by blowing air onto them. Heatpipes are solid metal which simply conduct heat.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

No different to anyone else's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pipe

Evaporation & condensation of a coolant.

EDIT: @MeteorsRaining, they aren't solid.

 

[oczdude8]

this is what a heatpipe looks like on the inside;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Laptop_CPU_Heat_Pipe_Cross_Section.jpg

Read this for more info:http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2616

 

[huilun02]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vk5B6Gga10

 

[MeteorsRaining]

My bad there, hollow rather would be better term.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

The metal has almost nothing to do with it.

They work because a coolant vapourises at the hot end, travels down the center of the tube to a cold point, condenses, then moves back as a liquid via capillary action to the hot end, where the cycle repeats.