Cooling system utilizing carbon nanotubes for cooling of electrical systems

Abstract

A cooling system to cool the airflow through a electrical system includes a CNT heat exchanger module disposed within a housing of the electrical system, a cooling device configured to receive a coolant, a unit board disposed within the housing of the electrical system, and an air flow device configured to pass air across at least a portion of the unit board and at least a portion of the CNT heat exchanger module. The CNT heat exchanger module includes a member having a hole defined therethrough and a plurality of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) attached to the member. The coolant is propagated through the hole in the member so as to dissipate the heat generated by the electrical system.

Description

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to a cooling system for cooling computer servers. More specifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate to an improved cooling system employing carbon nanotubes (CNTS) for use with computer servers.[0003]2. Background Art[0004]Removal of heat has become one of the most important challenges facing computer system designers today. The computer industry is challenged by thermal management of their high performance and high power electronic components. A number of attempts to improve thermal cooling have been taken in the past, such as by reducing thermal resistance of fan-driven cooling air and the junction temperature of high heat flux electronic components, such as central processing units (CPUs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and other high heat electronic components. However, the ever increasing demand for processing speed is pushing the envelope beyond wha...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Removal of heat has become one of the most important challenges facing computer system designers today.

The computer industry is challenged by thermal management of their high performance and high power electronic components.

However, the ever increasing demand for processing speed is pushing the envelope beyond what is attainable using traditional air cooling systems.

As the rate of power dissipation from electronics components, such as high performance server units, continues to increase, as shown in FIG. 1, standard conduction and forced-air convection fan air cooling techniques no longer provide adequate cooling for such sophisticated electronic components.

A major obstacle in efficient thermal management of high power computer servers is the presence of hot spots on the electronic components and the inability of air cooling schemes to effectively remove heat directly from a point of generation.

The reliability of electronic systems suffers when high temperatures at hot spot locations are permitted to persist.

Conventional thermal control schemes, such as air cooling with fans, thermoelectric cooling, heat pipes, and passive vapor chambers have either reached their practical application limit, or will soon become impractical for high power electronic components such as computer server units.

When standard cooling methods are no longer adequate, computer manufacturers have to reduce the speed of their processors to match the capacity of existing cooling apparatus, take a reliability hit due to inadequate cooling using existing cooling apparatus, or delay release of their product until a reliable cooling apparatus for removal of heat from high heat dissipating electronic components are made available.

Additionally, thermal management of high heat flux server units necessitates the use of bulky heat fan and heat sink assembly units.

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