Evaporator for looped heat pipe system and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

An evaporator for a looped heat pipe (LHP) system, in which a working fluid circulates to cool a heat generating electronic component that generates heat during operation, the evaporator including: a body including an inlet through which the working fluid enters and an outlet through which the working fluid is discharged; a sintered wick that is included in the body, wherein the sintered wick is formed by sintering a copper powder, and a plurality of pores are formed in the sintered wick; and an additional layer that is formed on a surface of the sintered wick, wherein the additional layer is formed by sintering copper particles having a size smaller than that of the copper powder forming the sintered wick, and the working fluid moved from the sintered wick is changed in a vapor state to be discharged.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0134877, filed on Nov. 26, 2012, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to an evaporator that forms a looped heat pipe system with a condenser, a vapor transport line, and a liquid transport line, and a method of manufacturing the evaporator, and more particularly, to an evaporator for a looped heat pipe system, including an additional layer, which is formed by sintering nano-sized particles on an vaporization surface of a sintered wick inside the evaporator, and thus having improved cooling efficiency.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Electronic components such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a semiconductor chip, used in various electronic devices such as computers o...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides an evaporator for a looped heat pipe (LHP) system that improves cooling efficiency for long distance transportation and high heat flux conditions. The evaporator increases capillary pressure without decreasing permeability, allowing the working fluid to circulate smoothly inside the LHP system. The evaporator also reduces contact thermal resistance between the additional layer and the vaporization surface of the sintered wick, resulting in decreased pressure loss and improved cooling efficiency. The method of manufacturing the evaporator is simple and can easily form the additional layer on the sintered wick.

Problems solved by technology

Electronic components such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a semiconductor chip, used in various electronic devices such as computers or servers generate a lot of heat during operation.

The electronic components are designed to perform their functions usually at room temperature, and thus if the heat generated during operation is not effectively dissipated, not only is performance of the electronic components degraded but the electronic devices are damaged in some circumstances.

As electronic products are reduced in size to be slim, installation intervals between electronic components thereof that generate heat during operation are continuously reduced, and thus, currently, the heat generated during use of the electronic products is not properly dissipated.

Also, due to the high integration degree and high performance of the electronic components, a heat generation load of the electronic components is continuously increasing, and thus it is difficult to cool the electronic components using conventional cooling methods.

However, although dependence of a heat pipe on a gravity field is low, there are still limitations regarding arrangement of components; for example, if a condensation section is located below an evaporation section in a gravity field, heat transport capability of the heat pipe decreases greatly.

Thus, it is difficult to obtain desired cooling performance just by adjusting a size of pores in the sintered wick 120.

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