In this paper, we propose a constraint preserving algorithm for the smallest Z-eigenpair of the compact Laplacian tensor of an even-uniform hypergraph, where Householder transform is employed and a family of modified conjugate directions with sufficient descent is determined. Besides, we prove that there exists a positive step size in the new constraint preserving update scheme such that the Wolfe conditions hold. Based on these properties, we prove the convergence of the new algorithm. Furthermore, we apply our algorithm to the hypergraph partitioning and image segmentation, and numerical results are reported to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]