Performance of liquid cooling can increase 1.5 times by applying sound waves, researchers say.
Although it is pretty well accepted that water cooling solutions with a decent flow rate and large radiator are more capable of transferring large amounts of heat faster than their air-powered brethren, the envelope for CPU cooling at the extreme high end is being pushed further and further with each new chip release. Ari Glezer and his team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated a new method for increasing the efficiency, and consequently performance, of liquid-based cooling solutions.
Glezer and his team announced one way to increase the efficiency of liquid cooling in 2003 when they demonstrated how a system of water jets could prevent a bubbly insulating film from forming on the surface of the liquid coolant. Though effective, this method required the use of large bulky equipment, which severely limited its potential applications. This film is formed by the release of energy from the liquid’s surface through vaporization (bubbles from boiling), and prevents efficient heat transfer from the liquid. While liquid coolants such as water have a much higher specific heat than air, thus making them far better medians through which to remove heat, various complications such as the aforementioned bubbles have prevented the widespread adoption of so-called water cooling across more platforms than just computing.
A more effective and easier to implement method of eliminating the film has now been discovered, and that is the use of sound waves. By placing an acoustic driver (speaker) a few millimeters from the heated surface and generating a small amount of sound energy at 1000Hz, the researchers have been able to prevent the accumulation of bubbles at the liquid’s surface. Due the small space and energy overhead necessary to implement this technology, it is very promising for applications where space is at a premium such as computer CPU cooling. Leading thermodynamic experts have weighed in on the discovery, proclaiming it could have a great e impact in cooling in the microprocessor field as well in aircrafts and hybrid automobiles.
We believe this could be really cool, both figuratively and literally, because modern CPUs are producing well in excess of 250W of heat when overclocked and under load. This could not only provide higher performance to a wider range of consumers, but enable chip makers to push the envelope of thermal design power just a bit further (not that that is necessarily a good thing in the long run).
Source: techPowerUp
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