Processor Cooling via Liquid Loop and Passive Radiator
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-powered processors in flight vehicles, such as spacecraft, face cooling challenges due to the unavailability or difficulty of forced air cooling and mass constraints, necessitating an efficient and lightweight cooling solution.
Innovation Solution
A processor unit incorporating a pumped liquid loop for active cooling, which transfers heat to a passive radiator for thermal radiative cooling, combined with separate passive cooling of a wiring board, enabling effective heat dissipation in high-power processing devices like GPUs or SoCs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If forced air cooling is used for high-powered processors, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but mass increases and system complexity increases due to availability issues in flight vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the forced air cooling components (fans, air ducts, heavy heat sinks) and replaces them with a liquid cooling system that uses pumped fluid circulation and radiative heat transfer. This removes the problematic mass while maintaining cooling effectiveness through direct liquid-to-processor contact and passive radiators.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies hydraulic cooling by using a pumped liquid loop to circulate coolant through channels in or near the processor. The liquid absorbs heat and transports it to radiators, replacing the pneumatic (air-based) cooling system with a more mass-efficient hydraulic system suitable for flight vehicles.
2Temperature
If larger radiators are used to dissipate heat, then cooling capacity is improved, but mass and volume increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thermal radiation parameters by using high-emissivity coatings or materials on the radiator surfaces. This increases the radiative heat transfer coefficient, allowing smaller radiator areas to achieve the same heat dissipation capacity, thereby reducing mass while maintaining cooling effectiveness.
3Temperature
If active cooling systems are implemented, then temperature control is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-regulating thermal control where the liquid cooling system automatically adjusts heat removal based on processor temperature. Thermal sensors and control algorithms monitor processor temperature and adjust pump speed or coolant flow accordingly, allowing the system to self-manage without complex external control infrastructure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for the use of high-power processing devices in spacecraft by efficiently managing heat through a combination of active and passive cooling methods, reducing thermal resistance and radiator size, and providing reliable and controlled temperature management.
Implementation Method 1
a liquid loop that includes a pump for circulating a working fluid for cooling the processor device
Implementation Method 2
a passive radiator, or radiator zone, coupled to the pumped liquid loop, to radiate to an external environment heat generated by the processor device
Data Source
AI summary
A processor unit includes a cooling unit for dedicated cooling of a processor device that includes at least one processor. The cooling unit includes a pumped liquid loop that circulates a working fluid to remove heat from the processor device, and to transmit that heat to a passive radiator thermally coupled to the liquid loop, to radiate the heat to an external environment. The cooling unit may be used in conjunction with additional cooling of a board, such as a printed wiring board, to which the processor device is operatively and thermally coupled. The cooling unit may be part of a spacecraft, and may enable use of high-powered processing devices as part of such spacecraft.