Subambient Boiling Coolant Loop for High-Heat Electronics Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooling methods for high-power electronic circuits, such as phased array antennas and future computational circuits, are inadequate due to the large heat loads they generate, as conventional refrigeration units are bulky, power-intensive, and fail to effectively remove heat flux from electronic components.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a coolant, such as pure water or methanol, is used at a subambient pressure to boil and vaporize, absorbing heat from heat-generating structures, with a system that includes a coolant loop for circulation and filtration to maintain purity and control pressure, allowing for efficient heat transfer without the need for large refrigeration units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional refrigeration units are used for cooling high-power electronic circuits, then adequate cooling capacity is achieved, but the system becomes large, heavy, and power-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the phase transition of dielectric liquid from liquid to vapor state during boiling contact with hot electronic components. This phase change absorbs large amounts of latent heat directly at the heat source, providing efficient cooling without requiring heavy refrigeration machinery. The vapor then condenses elsewhere in the closed loop, releasing heat and returning to liquid form.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the cooling function from traditional heavy refrigeration units and implements it through a lightweight dielectric liquid circulation system. By removing the need for compressors, condensers, and expansion valves characteristic of conventional refrigeration, the system achieves adequate cooling capacity with dramatically reduced weight and complexity.
2Temperature
If conventional refrigeration units are used for cooling high-power electronic circuits, then adequate cooling capacity is achieved, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The dielectric liquid utilizes phase transition (boiling and condensation) to transfer heat efficiently. The latent heat absorption during boiling at the electronic components provides intense cooling with minimal energy input, eliminating the need for high-power compressors and motors required by conventional refrigeration systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The dielectric liquid system operates passively through natural convection and phase change dynamics. The heated liquid rises, vaporizes, condenses, and returns to the heat source automatically, requiring minimal external power for circulation compared to active refrigeration systems with pumps and compressors.
3Device complexity
If coolant purity is not maintained, then system complexity increases, but heat transfer performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates sensors to monitor dielectric liquid purity and electrical properties in real-time. When contamination levels approach thresholds that could affect performance, the control system activates filtration or purification subsystems, maintaining optimal heat transfer efficiency without requiring constant high-level system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
A filtration and purification subsystem acts as an intermediary between the dielectric liquid and the heat transfer process. This intermediate component removes contaminants and maintains liquid purity, protecting the primary heat transfer function without requiring the entire system to be overly complex.
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 approach enables effective heat removal from densely packed electronics, reducing the size, weight, and power consumption of cooling systems, and is applicable to various heat-generating devices by utilizing the high latent heat of vaporization of the coolant to manage high heat loads efficiently.
Implementation Method 1
reducing a pressure of the coolant to a subambient pressure at which the coolant has a boiling temperature less than a temperature of the heat-generating structure, and bringing the heat-generating structure and the coolant at the subambient pressure into contact with one another, so that the coolant boils and vaporizes
Implementation Method 2
the coolant boils and vaporizes to thereby absorb heat from the heat-generating structure
Implementation Method 3
utilizing the high latent heat of vaporization of the coolant to manage high heat loads efficiently
Implementation Method 4
A method involving a coolant, such as pure water or methanol, is used at a subambient pressure to boil and vaporize, absorbing heat from heat-generating structures, with a system that includes a coolant loop for circulation
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for cooling heat-generating structure disposed in an environment having an ambient pressure. The heat-generating structure includes electronics. The method includes providing a coolant, reducing a pressure of the coolant to a subambient pressure at which the coolant has a boiling temperature less than a temperature of the heat-generating structure, and bringing the heat-generating structure and the coolant at the subambient pressure into contact with one another, so that the coolant boils and vaporizes to thereby absorb heat from the heat-generating structure. In a more particular embodiment the coolant is either pure water or pure methanol with an electrical resistivity level of greater than one million Ohms-cm. Further, in another particular embodiment the method includes filtering the coolant to maintain its purity above a particular level.