Systems and methods for cooling components within a gas turbine engine

A gas turbine engine comprising:

• an engine;
• a nacelle at least partially surrounding said engine and defining an undercowl space therein;
• an undercowl component coupled proximate to said engine and positioned within said undercowl space, said undercowl component comprising a surface to be cooled;
• and
• a passive component cooling system comprising a passive heat exchanger, said heat exchanger comprising:
• an evaporator section comprising a heat exchange surface formed complementary to said undercowl component surface, said heat exchange surface configured to be thermally coupled in conductive contact to said undercowl component surface;
• a condenser section coupled in passive convective flow communication with said evaporator section;
• and
• a working fluid contained within said evaporator section and said condenser section and configured to passively convect heat from said evaporator section to said condenser section.

A method of cooling a component of a gas turbine engine, the component includes a surface to be cooled positioned in an undercowl space of the gas turbine engine, said method comprising:

• providing a passive heat exchanger including an evaporator section and a condenser section coupled in passive convective flow communication with the evaporator section, the evaporator section includes a heat exchange surface;
• forming the heat exchange surface complementary to the component surface such that the heat exchange surface is thermally coupled in conductive contact to the component surface;
• receiving heat into the evaporator section from the gas turbine engine component;
• and
• passively transferring heat through the evaporator section to the condenser section through a working fluid contained within the evaporator section and the condenser section.