Thermal control device

Abstract

The invention refers to a thermal control device for controlling the temperature of a heat source by means of transferring heat from the heat source to the ambient environment, through the circulation of a fluid in the device, said device comprising an evaporator (10) collecting heat from the heat source, a condenser (30) rejecting heat to the ambient environment, a compensation chamber (20), and liquid (50) and vapor (40) transport lines connecting the evaporator (10) and the condenser (30), the fluid flowing through said transport lines (40, 50), the device further comprising a thermal electrical cooler (90), the thermal electrical cooler (90) further comprising a thermal saddle (80) attached to the cold side of the thermal electrical cooler (90), and a thermal radiator (100) attached to the hot side of the thermal electrical cooler (90), such that heat is rejected to the ambient environment directly through the thermal radiator (100), when the thermal control device operates in a hot environment, the ambient temperature surrounding the liquid transport line (50) being higher than the temperature of liquid in the exit (110) of the condenser (30).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to improvements in a thermal control device, in particular to a method for increasing the thermal conductance of a thermal control device and to an apparatus to perform such method.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]At present, thermal control of electronics and computer equipment is the key element of proper operation of these kind of equipments. The most commonly known thermal devices used for controlling thermal loads in electronics are the so called two phase heat transfer loops, which are also known in engineering practice as loop heat pipes.[0003]The purpose of these known loop heat pipes is to transfer heat between a heat source (for instance, an electronic element) and a heat sink (for instance, a radiator). A loop heat pipe is a closed, hermetically sealed circuit, which is partially filled by a working fluid, which is called heat carrier. Known loop heat pipes operate in the saturation curve of the working fluid, such...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014]An object of the present invention is to provide a method for increasing the performance of a loop heat pipe in hot environment in particular increasing its thermal conductivity.

[0016]According to the invention, a loop heat pipe with increased thermal conductance is provided, comprising an evaporator, a vapour transport line, a condenser embedded into a radiator in order to increase the area of heat rejection, a liquid transport line and a thermal electrical cooler. The thermal electrical cooler of the loop heat pipe of the invention is either attached in its cold side to the liquid transport line of the loop heat pipe close to the compensation chamber, or it is attached in its cold side onto the compensation chamber, the hot side of the thermal electrical cooler being attached to a radiator, such that heat is rejected to the ambient environment. In this way, the increase in the loop heat pipe thermal conductance in hot environment is achieved by cooling the liquid transport line of the loop heat pipe close to the compensation chamber with the help of the thermal electrical cooler, in order to compensate the lost of sub-cooling that occurs when the loop heat pipe is operating in hot environment. Heat removed from the liquid transport line, effected by the thermal electrical cooler, as well as heat released by the thermal electrical cooler itself, are rejected to the ambient environment outside the loop heat pipe.

[0017]With the method and loop heat pipe of the invention, the thermal conductivity of the loop heat pipe is increased.

Problems solved by technology

However, the purpose of the application of the thermal electrical cooler in loop heat pipes in the above-mentioned documents does not include the problem related to the existing need of increasing loop heat pipe thermal conductance by means of compensating parasitic heat leak between the ambient environment and the liquid line in the loop heat pipe.

Therefore, an additional area of the condenser in the loop heat pipe is needed for such configuration, which increases the mass of the loop heat pipe.

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