Author Archives: Josh Perry

Nanofluids in Electronics Cooling Applications

By Dr. Reza Azizian
Research Scientist
Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.

1. Introduction

Power requirements for electronic devices have risen steadily in recent years, with the rate of increase sloping upwards, and that has necessitated enhanced thermal management solutions to preserve performance and maintain the mean time between failures (MTBF) of these devices. There are a variety of solutions that can be implemented for cooling high power electronic devices from air to liquid cooling. While air cooling is the default, liquid cooling is necessary when high-power electronic devices dissipate more than of 300-520 W/cm2. [1,2]

The addition of nanoparticles to a coolant (i.e. Nanofluid) is another alternative that can provide further improvement within a liquid cooled system.

Photo by Ryan Kwok on Unsplash

Engineered suspensions of nanoparticles in liquids have become known recently as nanofluids. The nanoparticles dispersed in a base fluid are typically metal or metal oxide particles with a size range of 1-100 nanometers. When suspended in the base fluid, nanoparticles create a colloidal solution that has been shown to eliminate the issues of erosion, sedimentation and clogging that plagued earlier solid-liquid mixtures that used larger particles.

Dispersion of nanoparticles in a base fluid alters the fluid’s overall thermo-physical properties (such as enhancing the thermal conductivity). Researchers were able to demonstrate as much as 20% enhancement in heat transfer performance of the single phase, liquid cooled system when nanoparticles were introduced. [3]

This white paper tries to offer a basic overview of nanoparticles and nanofluids for engineers unfamiliar with this topic, including a basic introduction of what nanofluids are, terminology and selecting criteria for engineers, price points, market trends, basic applications, challenges and conclusions. The end of this paper contains both a definition of terms for this topic and a list of further references.

2. Nanofluid Composition

Nanofluids are made up of two basic components: nanoparticles and a base fluid. Surfactant is also used in some cases to increase colloidal stability.

The nanoparticles used in nanofluids are typically metals, metal oxides, carbides, or carbon nanotubes. Common base fluids include water, ethylene glycol and oil. [4] The mixture of nanoparticles into a base fluid creates a colloid, as shown in Fig. 1.

Nanofluids in Electronics Cooling

Figure 1. Colloidal dispersion of nanoparticles in a base fluid (Nanofluids). [5]

The addition of nanoparticles to a base fluid enhances thermal conductivity and viscosity of the resultant nanofluids. The degree of enhancement depends on various factors such as volume fraction of the particles being added, particle shape, etc. The reasons for the enhancement are attributed to several microscopic phenomena including particle dynamic effect, liquid layering on the surface of the nanoparticles, and particle clustering. [6]

3. Markets and Applications

Several key markets and applications for nanofluids include:

  • Heat Transfer Enhancements
    • Power Systems (nuclear and conventional); heat exchangers (chemical industry); heat pipes; thermal management of power electronics and other semiconductors; air conditioning; and refrigeration systems
  • Mass Transfer Enhancements
    • Fermentations; protein/cell separation; drug delivery; and catalysts
  • Rheology
    • Lubricants (deep hole drilling)
  • Magnetic Nanofluids (Ferrofluids)
    • Rotary seals; cancer therapy (hyperthermia); NMR imaging; and magnetic cell sorting

4. Selecting the right nanofluid from the thermal standpoint

In the case of single-phase heat transfer, it has been shown that the heat transfer coefficient and the amount of pressure loss can be predicted by means of traditional correlations and models (Eq. 1 and 2 for heat transfer coefficient of laminar and turbulent flow respectively), as long as the measured temperature and loading dependent nanofluid properties are used. [7, 8]

Where hnf is the convective heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids; Knf, µnf, ρnf, cp,nf, are the thermal conductivity, viscosity, density and specific heat of nanofluid respectively; V is the fluid velocity, x is the distance from the entrance of the tube and D is the tube diameter.

It is clear that if accurate values of the thermo-physical properties for a specific nanofluid are available, the thermal behavior can be predicted. Apart from the specific heat and density, which can be identified by mixture rules, thermal conductivity and viscosity are the two most important parameters for overall thermal evaluation of a specific nanofluid. It is expected that by dispersing nanoparticles with higher thermal conductivity in comparison to the base fluid overall thermal conductivity of the resultant nanofluid will be higher than that of the original base fluid.

This is beneficial because having a working fluid with higher thermal conductivity would result in a reduction of pumping power while achieving the same amount of heat removal. It can also be shown that if one can increase the thermal conductivity of the working fluid by a factor of three (enhancing overall thermal conductivity is basically what nanofluid does), the heat transfer in the same apparatus doubles. [3] To give readers an idea, to increase the heat transfer of conventional fluid by a factor of two, pumping power must usually be increased by a factor of eight. Therefore, using nanofluid with high value of thermal conductivity can provide large pumping power reduction in the system.

Effective medium theory (i.e. Eq. 3) with Ck = 3 (for a dilute system of spherical particles) can be used as a rule of thumb criteria of the thermal conductivity estimation for the specific nanofluid. Obviously, measuring thermal conductivity and identifying Ck provides much more accurate value.

where knf and kbf are the thermal conductivity of nanofluid and base fluid respectively; Ck is the constant that should be found by matching Eq. 3 to the experimental data; and ∅ is the volume fraction of the particles.

However, this is just half of the story, in addition to thermal conductivity, it was also evident that viscosity has a significant impact on the overall performance of a heat transfer fluid. Adding nanoparticles to the base fluid results in a higher viscosity of the resultant nanofluid. Clearly, pumping a fluid with increased viscosity through a heat exchanger requires an increase in pumping energy, thereby reducing the overall benefit of a fluid with higher thermal conductivity. [9] Unfortunately, most of the equations for predicting viscosity of nanofluids under-predicts the experimental data by a huge margin. It was shown that for the first order estimation value of Cµ = 10 can be used in Eq. 4.

where µnf and µbf are the viscosity of nanofluid and base fluid respectively and Cµ is the constant that should be found by matching Eq. 4 with the experimental data.

This shows that generally the enhancement in viscosity is higher than enhancement in thermal conductivity (Cµ = 10 compared to Ck = 3). Then the key question to be answered is: “Is there any benefit of using nanofluids as a heat transfer fluid?” [10]

Criteria for the overall effectiveness of nanofluids as heat transfer fluids have been proposed, [9,11] which suggest that the increase in the viscosity has to be more than four times larger than the comparable increase in thermal conductivity for a nanofluid to be not beneficial at all.

Therefore, the overall quick guide line for selecting a nanofluid for a specific application would be as follows:

A. Use Eq. 3 and 4 to estimate the thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanofluid (measured values of the thermal conductivity and viscosity are obviously preferred).

B. If the measured thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanofluid of interest meets the requirements of Cµ <4 Ck move to the next step. If not, the choice of nanofluid should be changed.

C. Calculated/measured thermal conductivity and viscosity values should be implemented in Eq. 1 or Eq. 2 (depending on the flow) for the first order estimation of heat transfer coefficient enhancement.

In applications that involve boiling, it was shown that the boiling of nanofluids result in a deposition of nanoparticles on the heated surface (Fig. 2). [12,13] Deposition of nanoparticles on the surface provides a porous, hydrophilic layer that alters the wettability of the surface. Due to the nano-scale porous nature of this layer, capillary wicking also plays an important role. Lateral flow of the liquid due to the capillary wicking supplies a fresh liquid to the dry region beneath the bubble and delays the irreversible growth of the hot spot, which results in critical heat flux (CHF). [13] The exact mechanism behind the observed enhancement in the CHF value is still subject of debate in heat transfer community. [14]

Figure 2. Scanning electron microscopy of the heated surface after boiling with (a) DI-water and (b) nanofluid. [12]

5. Cost estimation of Nanofluids

The overall cost of a nanofluid is determined by the price of the chosen base fluid and the price of the nanoparticles themselves. Prices are higher when the nanoparticles are more difficult to synthesize or the process for creating the stable colloidal suspension is more challenging. Table 1 presents an estimation of the price for some common nanoparticles with water as the base fluid. The thermal conductivity of the resultant nanofluid is a function of the nanoparticle’s thermal conductivity. Clearly, nanoparticles with higher value of thermal conductivity provide higher enhancement.

6. Geographic Considerations for Nanofluid R & D

Nanotechnology is a field that has worldwide investment in R&D both from governments and private enterprises. The Industrial Research Institute’s “2016 Global R&D Funding Forecast” [15] notes that the most important technologies from a world-wide Industrial R&D investment standpoint include nanotechnology for both biological and industrial applications. Indeed, nanotechnology research for industrial applications (including thermal management of electronics) is forecast to have a 30% increase in R&D investment over the next two years. Only Information Technologies is forecast to have a larger increase at 31%.

The United States nanotechnology industry is led by the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which (in 2017 alone) has budgeted $1.4 billion for R&D. The budget supports nanoscale science, engineering, and technology R&D at 11 agencies, including the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. [16] In addition, the United States has published 6,926 scientific papers on nanotechnology as of 2015. [17]

Other countries that are also heavily investing in nanotechnology include:

– China is second to the United States in investment for nanotechnology research having invested $1.3 billion in R&D and having published 2,898 scientific papers.
– Japan has $850 million dollars invested in nanotechnology research and has published 2,626 papers.
– Germany also has $850 million dollars invested with 1,767 published scientific papers.
– South Korea has $400 million dollars invested and 1,461 published scientific papers.

There has been a major effort in the European Union (EU) to make nanotechnology available for commercial purposes. In the European Commission’s “Horizon 2020” framework for research and innovation, nanofluids were labeled a “Key Enabling Technology,” although it also noted that many nanofluids are at Technical Readiness Level (TLR) 1-3, making them several years away from full commercial viability. [18] The European Commission is devoting €80 billion to spearhead research into various technologies, in addition to private investments.

While the amount of investment shows the overall commitment of a country to this technology, another metric is the concentration of nanotechnology startup companies by geography. For example, in the United States, the highest concentrations of nanotechnology startup companies are in California, Massachusetts, New York and Texas. The densest locations (with 30 or more companies) are Boston, Mass.; San Francisco, Calif.; San Jose, Calif.; Raleigh, N.C.; Middlesex-Essex, Mass.; and Oakland, Calif. [19]

7. Regulatory Considerations

Many nanoscale materials are regarded as “chemical substances” under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). [20] TSCA requires manufacturers of new chemical substances to provide specific information to the Agency for review prior to manufacturing chemicals or introducing them into commerce. The EPA can take action to ensure that chemicals that may pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment are effectively controlled. The EPA’s bulletin, “Control of Nanoscale Materials under the Toxic Substances Control Act” outlines the regulatory framework for nanoscale materials. Most engineers implementing nanofluids for thermal management would be acquiring these materials from another manufacturer.

8. Key Market Drivers

Market drivers are forces that compel products and services to change in order to meet consumer or business demand. A useful construct for those drivers is a STEEPLE analysis, which considers seven broad factors of market drivers: Socio-Cultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal and Ethical. This section deals with two to three key technological drivers for the most relevant heat transfer enhancement applications such as: power plants, power electronics and other semiconductors, and heat pipes.

8.1. Power Systems (nuclear and conventional)

Virtually all developed countries rely on a national power grid for their nations to grow and prosper. Nanofluids can play an important role in this space by improving the outcome and cost-efficiency of existing power plants. The use of nanofluids to cool a power plant can significantly reduce the resources consumed and the cost in electricity to run it. These cost savings and the greater efficiency that nanofluids provide can also eliminate the need for building additional power plants, which is a massive financial boost for a country, state, or municipality.

In power systems, the key technological drivers to consider for the implementation of nanofluids include:

o Nuclear [21]
– Improving the energy efficiency of a nuclear power plant by improving the functionality of existing power systems.
– Cost and regulatory avoidance by not having to build additional infrastructure since the efficiency of existing infrastructure can be improved to the degree that more building is unnecessary.
– Safety of nuclear power plants by improving the cooling of nuclear rods (in a pressurized water reactor, Fig. 3 [22]) by pushing the point at which a rod might overheat (CHF) to a higher value.

Figure 3. Pressurized water reactor (PWR). [22]

o Solar [23]
– Improvement to heat transfer by increasing the heat transfer performance of the fluid in the solar collectors for hot water supply (Fig. 4).

Figure 4. Solar hot water system. [24]

o Conventional [24]
– Improvement in power plant efficiency through various methods including higher heat capacity of the heat transfer fluid.
– Reduction in the size of heat exchangers.
– Reducing vapor pressure to reduce plant risk.
– Improvement in the stability of heat transfer fluids with a goal of keeping the consistency of energy conversion stable.

8.2. Power electronics and semiconductors [25, 26, 27]

With the advent of cloud computing, electric and hybrid vehicles, and the Internet of Things (IoT), electronics have become increasingly integrated into our lives. This integration of and the growth in applications drives an increasing need for more performance but at lower power and in smaller packages.

In power electronics and semiconductors the key technology drivers are:

• Increasing speeds of semiconductors with simultaneous increase in component densities.
• Increasing the performance of fluids for thermal management of electronics and migration from air to liquid cooling systems.
• Improvement in energy efficiency of electronic systems.
• Improving rack density for computing systems through reducing systems to sub-1U platforms.
• Improvement in power module life (MTBF).
• Thermal management of ever-increasing power densities.

8.3. Heat Pipes

Heat pipes are increasingly used as a key component in thermal management solutions. Their ability to transfer large amounts of heat from one section of a system to another makes them invaluable for keeping semiconductor junction temperatures within their proper range.

Key technology drivers for heat pipes and nanofluids are:

• Improving the heat transfer performance and temperature uniformity in heat pipes.
• Reduction of the thermal resistance (because of higher thermal conductivity of nanofluids).
• Increasing maximum allowable heat load of heat pipes (Qmax) by improving the wettability and providing larger surface area for thin-film evaporation in an evaporator (because of particle deposition as a result of evaporation).

9. Applications and Specifications

Nanofluids are a broad category of engineered fluids. The composition and selection of a particular colloid is generally specific to a given application category. The following are some examples of applications that could use nanofluids and some general specifications as to why an engineer may want to choose them.

9.1. Computer servers for cloud computing

Cloud computing, with its large scale of servers, continues to grow and with this trend so too does the amount of energy data centers consume. Moving from air cooling to liquid cooling can create a more energy- and computationally-efficient data center. When using water as the base fluid with nanoscale particles of zinc oxide, copper oxide or carbon nanotubes, for example, the colloid’s capability to conduct heat is improved 10-40% over water alone. The lower range of improvement is with a conventional heat exchanger, while the higher range requires a specially designed heat exchanger. [29]

9.2. Power Electronics

Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules, power brick and power semiconductors have ever-increasing heat dissipation requirements reaching 300 W/cm2 and higher. At those heat dissipation levels the constraints of cabinet size, system density, noise levels and fan size make using liquid cooling with nanofluids a good thermal management strategy. As in other applications, an improvement of 10-40% may be possible by using nanofluids rather than water alone.

The implementations of liquid cooling can vary, but commonly involve heat pipes, vapor chambers or cold plates (either single or two-phase) with a pump. Because of the unique thermal capabilities of nanofluids, all three implementations can be smaller, lighter, quieter and thinner than when deployed without nanofluids. [30]

10. Trends

The idea of using liquid cooling for power electronics applications is no longer confined to theoretical observations or laboratory experiments. There is widespread use of heat pipes, for example, and personal computers frequently incorporate elaborate liquid cooling systems. Nanofluids represent an enhancement to the technologies that are increasingly being used for cooling electronics.

Much of the ongoing research is focused on immersion cooling and boiling. In tests, boiling with nanofluids has been shown to improve the value of critical heat flux (CHF) by as much as 200% as a result of nanoparticle deposition on the surface of component. This has led to other research on, potentially, engineering the surface of high-powered electronic devices with nanoparticles to improve heat dissipation without the need for an engineered liquid.

Researchers are also continually testing new materials to disperse in different fluids. For instance, aluminum oxide, iron oxide, zinc oxide, cerium oxide, and bismuth oxide are just some of the options that Nanophase Technologies Corporation offers to customers. In addition, there is work being done with carbon nanotubes that have shown promising results in heat transfer. [31] New materials, such as graphene, are also being developed and tested to determine their potential for application in thermal management.

Other trends in the technology include the use of different materials such as copper, aluminum, and newly developed polymers for the loop of a liquid cooling system or different wicking materials in the production of heat pipes and vapor chambers. In addition, improvements are being made in heat exchangers, pumps, and other components of liquid cooling systems.

11. Challenges

While nanofluids have gained momentum and notoriety in the past two decades, there are still several challenges to their widespread commercialization. [32] One of those challenges is that the concept of nanofluids is still relatively young. The term was only coined in the early 1990s and, while the number of studies have increased in recent years, there are no long-term assessments of how the addition of nanoparticles could affect a cooling system over time. Nanoparticles could collect and cause degradation in a pump or heat exchanger, for example. There is a widespread belief in the stability and reliability of nanofluid solutions, but it has not been possible to document that over the course of a long period of time.

Also, there are questions that have been raised about the environmental impacts of disposing nanofluids from a system, whether as vapor in the case of a nuclear power reactor or as liquid when replacing the fluid in a data center system. While it is possible that nanoparticles in high quantities could be harmful, there are few studies that have focused on the environmental impacts [33] or the impact on humans. [34]

12. Conclusions

This white paper summarized the potential applications of nanofluid in electronic cooling. It was shown that the thermal performance of the liquid cooled system can be further improved by dispersing nanoparticles in a base fluid (i.e. nanofluid). The guide for selection of the right nanofluid for specific application is provided. It was shown that the heat transfer coefficient enhancement in nanofluid can be predicted simply by implementing thermo-physical properties of the nanofluid of interest in the traditional models/correlation for single phase convective heat transfer. It was also shown that the large enhancement in CHF value can be achieved by boiling nanofluid on a heated surface. Based on these basic principles employing nanofluid in different applications, their opportunities and challenges were discussed.

Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank Ms. Rebecca O’Day and Mr. Joshua Perry for their help in preparing this manuscript.

Definition of Terms
———————————————-
There are several terms that are used in discussion nanoparticles and nanofluids in electronics cooling applications. These terms are listed below and defined for reference.

Base Fluid – Fluids generally used to contain nano particles to create a colloidal suspension. Base fluids typically but not exclusively used include water, ethylene glycol, engine oil, Tolouene, refrigerants.

Colloid – Nanoscale or microscale particles suspended in another medium.

Nanoparticle – Particles with size on the order of 1-100 nm. [35]

Nanoparticle Types: Nanoparticles can be made of materials with good thermal conductivity such as metallic oxides (Al2O3, CuO, SiO2, Fe3O4), nitride ceramics (AlN, SiN), Carbide ceramics (SiC, TiC), metals (Cu, Ag, Au), semiconductors (TiO2, SiC), carbon nanotubes (SWCNT, DWCNT, MWCNT).

Nanofluid – Fluid containing nanometer-sized particles, called nanoparticles. These fluids are engineered colloids of nanoparticles in a base fluid.


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For more information about Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS) thermal management consulting and design services, visit www.qats.com/consulting or contact ATS at 781.769.2800 or [email protected].

Summer Engineering Intern Shares Positive Experiences From Time at ATS

Vlad Blyakhman, a rising sophomore in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), sat down with the marketing team to speak about his experiences as a summer intern at Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS).

Engineering Intern

George Washington University rising sophomore Vlad Blyakhman spent the summer as an engineering intern at ATS. (Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.)

After a summer working in the ATS labs, learning about the company’s wide range of thermal management products, from heat sinks for convection cooling to its liquid cooling options, and exploring thermal engineering topics with the ATS staff, Vlad is now ready to continue his mechanical engineering studies at GW this fall.

“Before I came here,” Vlad explained, “I just knew it was engineering that had to do with heat, but now I understand that it’s obviously a lot more than that.”

He added, “When I first got to ATS, I remember just being in the lab and seeing these crazy machines and having no idea what they’re for or what they do, but now, after spending some time here, I can go back in the same laboratory and know that I know how to use them and know what they do now.”

According to Vlad, his favorite part of his summer at ATS was creating and designing a fixture for testing cold plates in the lab. He also had the opportunity to see ATS engineers in action, watching them at work developing designs for customers and working on the next generation of thermal management solutions. It was a chance to put his classroom learning into practice and expand his knowledge base beyond what he had studied to this point.

When asked if he would recommend an ATS internship to another student, Vlad said, “It’s a very specific experience that you can’t get anywhere else. So, I think it will really help you decide what field you want to go into; what type of engineering.”

Here more from Vlad in the full video below:

For more information about Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS) thermal management consulting and design services, visit www.qats.com/consulting or contact ATS at 781.769.2800 or [email protected].

In the ATS Labs – Where Thermal Solutions Advance to Meet Industry Demands

Thermal management innovations need to match the rapid pace at which the electronics industry is advancing. As consumers demand new and more powerful devices or greater amounts of information at faster speeds, cooling solutions of the past will not be enough. Today’s cooling solutions must be smaller, lighter, and offer higher performance, but also need to be cost-effective, meet demanding project specifications, and be reliable for many years.

Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS) understands the importance of creating cutting-edge thermal solutions for its customers and has geared its thermal design capability and its research and development to match the innovations taking place in electronics design.

ATS Labs

An ATS engineer assembles a rig for testing cold plates in one of ATS’ six state-of-the-art labs. (Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.)

To meet the need for innovative solutions, ATS engineers are hard at work in the company’s six state-of-the-art laboratories at the ATS headquarters, located in Norwood, Mass. (south of Boston). Thermal issues of all kinds are recognized, broken down, and resolved and cooling solutions are designed, simulated, prototyped, and rigorously tested in these research-grade facilities.

When someone thinks of a research lab, the initial picture is scientists in white coats working for major corporations, such as IBM, Microsoft, or Google, but the development of new ideas is an essential tool for any company in the technology field. Working with empirical tests in a lab environment pushes concepts from the white board or the computer screen to reality. There comes a time when engineers need to produce tangible data to ensure that a design works as planned.

ATS thermal engineers are no different. They use state-of-the-art instruments and software in each of the six labs to conduct a long list of characterization, quality-assurance, and validation tests. In addition to finding custom cooling solutions for customers, ATS engineers produce thermal management products for commercial uses, including a variety of next generation heat sink, heat pipe, vapor chamber, and liquid cooling designs.

Engineers test ATS instruments using a wind tunnel and sensors in the Characterization Lab. (Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.)

Among the most common tests performed in the ATS labs are:

• Measurements of air velocity, direction, pressure and temperature;
• Characterization of heat sink designs, fans and cold plates
• Flow visualization of liquid and air flow
• Image visualization characterization using infrared and liquid crystal thermography.

Many of the instruments that these tests are performed on were designed and fabricated by ATS. That includes open-loop, closed-loop, and bench-top wind tunnels; the award-winning iQ-200™, which measures air temperature, velocity, and pressure with one instrument; and the thermVIEW™ liquid crystal thermography system. Engineers also use specially-designed sensors, such as the ATS Candlestick Sensor, to get the most accurate analysis possible.

Smoke flow visualization tests run in ATS wind tunnels demonstrate how air flows through a system. (Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.)

Heat pipes and vapor chambers are increasingly common cooling solutions, particularly for mobile devices and other consumer electronics, and ATS engineers are working to expand the company’s offerings for these solutions and to develop next generation technology that optimizes the thermal performance of these products. This research involves advanced materials, new fabrication methods, performance testing, and innovative designs that are ready for mass production.

ATS engineer Vineet Barot sets up a thermal imaging camera for temperature mapping studies in the lab. (Advanced Thermal Solutions. Inc.)

ATS has also developed products to meet the growing demand across the electronics industry for liquid cooling systems. From new designs for recirculating and immersion chillers to multi-channel cold plates to tube-to-fin heat exchangers, ATS is continuing to expand its line of liquid cooling solutions to maximize the transfer of heat from liquid to air and researching new manufacturing methods, advanced materials, and other methods of enhancing the technology.

As liquid cooling technology has grown, ATS has met this demand with new instruments and lab capabilities, such as the iFLOW-200™, which measures a cold plate’s thermal and hydraulic characteristics, and full liquid loops to test ATS products under real-world conditions.

ATS Labs

ATS engineer Reza Azizian (right) works with intern Vladislav Blyakhman on a liquid cooling loop in the lab. (Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.)

The labs at ATS are up to even the toughest electronics cooling challenges that the company’s global customers present. Thanks to its extensive lab facilities, ATS has provided thousands of satisfied customers with the state-of-the-art thermal solutions that they demand.

For more information about Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS) thermal management consulting and design services, visit www.qats.com/consulting or contact ATS at 781.769.2800 or [email protected].

What is Geothermal Cooling and Heating Technology and How Does it Work

By Norman Quesnel
Senior Member of Marketing Staff
Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS)

If you cross-sectioned the Earth, it would show a multi-layered structure with a solid iron core spinning in a sea of liquid iron and sulfur. You would also find great quantities of flowing heat starting at the very center and moving outward.

The flow of heat from Earth’s interior to the surface is estimated at 47 terawatts, i.e. 47 trillion watts, and comes from two main sources in roughly equal amounts: the radiogenic heat produced by the radioactive decay of isotopes in the mantle and crust and the primordial heat left over from the formation of the Earth 4-1/2 billion years ago.

In a recent study, scientists estimated the temperature of the center of the Earth at 6,000°C (10,800°F) – about as hot as the surface of the sun. [2]

Fig. 1. Earth’s Outermost Layer, the Crust, Comprises Just 1% of Our Planet’s Mass (Photo by NASA on Unsplash)

In fact, more than 99% of the inner Earth is hotter than 1,000°C (1,800°F). Unlike the sun, the Earth is much cooler at its outer crust and on its outside surface. But even at cooler temperatures, the shallow depths of the Earth’s crust provide a geothermal resource for both heating and cooling structures built above the ground.

By drilling deeper down, but still within the crust, much higher temperatures can be harnessed to help generate power that can in turn provide industrial and even community-wide levels of heating and cooling. High-temperature geothermal heat has tremendous potential because it represents an inexhaustible, and virtually emissions-free, energy source. [3]

Geothermal Cooling

Fig. 2. Simple Diagram of Near Surface Heating and Cooling Geothermal System. [4]

Near Surface Heating and Cooling Systems

The ground absorbs nearly half of the solar energy the planet receives. As a result, the Earth remains at a constant, moderate temperature just below its surface year-round. However, air temperature varies greatly from summer to winter, making air source (traditional) heating and cooling least efficient when you need it the most. [5]

Geothermal heat pumps take advantage of the moderate temperatures typically found at shallow depths to boost efficiency and reduce the operational costs of architectural heating and cooling systems. Unlike conventional heating and air conditioning systems, which use the outside air to absorb and release heat, geothermal systems use heat pumps to transfer heat from below the surface.

Geothermal Cooling

Fig. 3. Four Basic Types of Geothermal Heat Pump System Shown in a US Department of Energy Illustration. Open Loop Systems Can Use Either a Man-made or Natural Water Reservoir. [6]

The pumps connect to closed loops of plastic pipes buried either horizontally or vertically in the ground below the frost line (about 100-200 meters), where the temperature is consistently between 40-80°F depending on location. Called ground loops, the underground pipes are filled with water and sealed tight except where they are connected to the geothermal heating and cooling system inside the building.

In winter, water running through the loops will absorb heat from the ground and pipe it into the home, while the system will run in the opposite direction to keep things cool during the scorching summer months. The pipes are connected to a heat pump and water heater inside the house and users can control the indoor climate through a smart thermostat.

There are four basic configurations for geothermal heat pump ground loops. Three of them are closed-loop systems that use a self-contained water and an anti-freeze solution. The open-loop system uses ground water or water from a well. [6]

Geothermal Cooling

Fig 4. Geothermal Pumps Can Efficiently Heat and Cool Homes and Commercial Buildings. [7]

Newer geothermal systems can be installed at shallower depths, less than 50 feet. Even at these levels, the ground can provide a heat source in colder weather and serve as a cooling heat sink when surface temperatures are hot. [8]

There are several providers of geothermal heating and cooling systems. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is among them with its newly created startup, Dandelion. Originally conceived at X, Alphabet’s innovation lab, Dandelion is now an independent company offering geothermal heating and cooling systems to homeowners, starting in the northeastern U.S. [9]

To put in the ground loops, Dandelion uses its “clean drilling technology” to dig a few small holes in the yard, each only a few inches wide. Then a technician will install the other components inside the house, and the system should be up and running in two or three days. After that, the only regular maintenance is an air filter change every six to 12 months.

Deeper Down Geothermal Systems

The Kola borehole, on Russia’s Kola Peninsula is the deepest mankind has ever drilled into the Earth’s crust. After nearly 15 years of boring, the hole was 12,262 meters (40,230 feet) – over 12 kilometers or 7.6 miles deep. At that depth, the temperature was 185°C (356°F). [10]

Geothermal Cooling

Fig. 5. Very Hot, Deep Underground Thermal Energy Can Convert Water to Steam to Power Turbine Generators in Power Plants. [11]

Even at half that depth, there can be much more heat than a near-surface geothermal system can access. The Norwegian company Rock Energy wants to be an international leader in high power geothermal heat and energy. A pilot plant has been planned for Oslo that will collect heat from 5,500 meters deep. The high temperatures from this depth can heat water to 90-95°C (194-203°F) and can be used in district heating plants. [12]

Rock Energy is planning to drill two wells, an injection well where cold water is pumped down, and a production well where hot water flows back up. Between these will be so-called radiator leads that connect the wells. The water is then exchanged with water in a district heating plant managed by the Norwegian power company Hafslund. [13]

Geothermal Cooling

Figure 6. Water is Superheated by Deeply Located Hot Rocks and Pumped to the Surface Where It Converts a Separate Liquid to Turbine-Driving Steam. [14]

A hot dry rock system potentially allows geothermal energy to be captured from hot rocks, 3-5 km (1.8-3.1 miles) underground. In operation, cold water is pumped at high pressure down into the very high-temperature, fractured hot rock. The water becomes superheated as it passes through the rock on its way to the extraction boreholes.

In Figure 6, the diagram of a hot dry rock system shows hot water emerging from the borehole and directed through a heat exchanger. After giving up its heat, the cooled water is recycled back down the injection borehole in the hot rock bed. The working fluid, a low boiling point liquid, circulating through the secondary circuit of the heat exchanger is vaporized by the heat extracted from the well water and used to drive the power plant’s turbines. [14]

At both shallow depths and miles down, the Earth offers thermal energy that can harnessed for heating, cooling and power generation. Compared to most other processes, geothermal energy is cleaner, continuous and, as technology advances, a low cost alternative to fossil fuels or to solar and wind-powered systems.

References
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_internal_heat_budget
2. https://www.geokraftwerke.de/en/geokraftwerke/geothermal-energy/geothermics.html
3. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151023094414.htm
4. http://www.coolingzone.com/index.php?read=1279
5. http://www.climatemaster.com/residential/how-geothermal-works/
6. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/524387950340721445/
7. https://www.geoexchange.org/geothermal-101/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_heat_pump
9. https://dandelionenergy.com/
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole
11. http://photonicswiki.org/index.php?title=Survey_of_Renewables
12. https://www.qats.com/cms/2017/04/25/industry-developments-district-cooling-systems/
13. https://www.sintef.no/en/latest-news/energy-underfoot-/
14. http://www.mpoweruk.com/geothermal_energy.htm

For more information about Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS) thermal management consulting and design services, visit www.qats.com/consulting or contact ATS at 781.769.2800 or [email protected].

Industry Developments: Thermal Management Solutions for IGBT Modules

By Norman Quesnel
Senior Member of Marketing Staff
Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.

Power electronics devices are vital for the efficient generation, conversion, transmission and distribution of electric power. Power technologies are being used to improve energy efficiency, reliability, and control. Some experts expect that one day all electrical power will flow through a power semiconductor device at least once. [1]

Cooling IGBT

Fig. 1. An IGBT module with rated current of 1,200 A and max voltage of 3,300 V. [2]

Among the more widely adapted high-voltage, high-power devices are IGBT. An IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) is a solid-state switch that allows power to flow in the ‘On’ state and stops power flow when it is in the ‘Off’ state.

More specifically, an IGBT works by applying voltage to a semiconductor component, changing its properties to block or create an electrical path. An IGBT combines an insulated gate input and bipolar output to provide a reliable power switch for medium frequency (5-50 kHz) and high voltage (200-2,000 V) applications. [3]

Large IGBT modules typically consist of many devices in parallel and can have very high current-handling capabilities in the order of hundreds of amperes with blocking voltages of 6,500 V. These IGBT can control loads of hundreds of kilowatts. [4]

Among the many areas where IGBT are used in high power applications are:Electric and hybrid-electric vehicles; Battery chargers and charging stations; Electric buses, trams, and trolleys; Appliance motor drives; Switch and uninterruptible power supplies; Power factor correction converters; Traction motor controls; Solar and wind power inverters; Induction heating; and Medical diagnostic devices.

Thermal Management Needs and Solutions

IGBT generate significant heat and can be affected by excess thermal energy. Using air cooling techniques, e.g. heat sinks, for high-power dissipating IGBT can be impractical because of the large sizes the sinks require to manage the high volumes of heat.

Liquid cooling provides heat transfer coefficients several orders of magnitude higher than convection cooling, thus enabling much higher power densities and more compact module and inverter solutions.

While there is sometimes a reluctance to use liquid cooling in the power electronics industry, it is essential to meet many of today’s IGBT thermal management needs. The automotive industry has been using liquid cooling for internal combustion engines for more than a century and the idea of using liquid cooling for power electronics in an automotive application is now considered a non-issue. [5]

Liquid cooling methods for IGBT include cold plates, heat pipes, turbulators and vapor cooling loops.

Cold Plates

Cold plates provide localized cooling of power electronics by transferring heat from the device to a liquid that flows to a remote heat exchanger and dissipates into either the ambient or to another liquid in a secondary cooling system. Compared to air cooling, liquid cold plates provide more efficient performance and enable major reductions in the volume and weight of power electronics systems.

Cooling IGBT

Fig. 2. Cold Plates are used to keep chip temperatures lower inside modular IGBT component packages. (Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.) [6]

High switching frequencies and voltages result in IGBT dissipating higher power at the die level. Thus, the goal for cooling IGBT with cold plates is typically to get the lowest semiconductor temperature possible, as well as a minimum temperature gradient from one module to the next. They provide efficient heat transfer between the cold plate contact area and the IGBT base plate.

Uniquely manufactured IGBT cold plates from Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS) feature a higher performance mini-channel design. For example, the CP-1000 model cold plate, at a flow rate of 4 L/min, can transfer 1 kW of heat at 5°C temperature difference between the cold plate base and the inlet fluid temperature.

Fig. 3. A superior quality, vacuum-brazed cold plate from Mersen. [7]

Mersen S.A. provides vacuum-brazed cold plates specially dedicated to the needs of industrial drives. The vacuum–brazing technology insures metal-to-metal, flux-free joints ensuring leak-free, high-performance results. [7]

Fig. 4. IGBT-cooling base plates are available with multiple metal substrates and with low cost fin and pin features. [8]

Base plates (without liquids) are also available for IGBT cooling. One supplier is Wolverine MicroCool. Wolverine’s base plates provide efficient heat transfer in part because of their patented Micro Deformation Technology (MDT), which enables a wide variety of fin, pin and micro-channel geometries in a low-cost process. Because of this technology, the base plates have a very low pressure drop without compromising thermal conductivity. [8]

Turbulators

A turbulator is a cooler assembly designed to ensure all chips in a series of IGBT modules are cooled equally and efficiently. The concept enables tailored cooling, if hot spots need extra attention, and is accomplished by designing the liquid cooling channels individually.

The Mentor ShowerPower plastic part (pictured below in blue) has several cooling cells in the ‘X’ and ‘Y’ directions and needs a manifold structure on the backside of the plastic part. This ensures that each cooling cell receives water at the same temperature. [9]

Fig. 5. The turbulator concept ensures that all chips a series of IGBT modules are cooled equally. [9]

Turbulator designs like the ShowerPower provide many benefits. By homogeneously cooling flat IGBT baseplates and modules, they eliminate temperature gradients to allow the paralleling of many power chips.

Direct Liquid Cooling

Unlike cold plates, whose metal enclosures contact the base of an IGBT with a TIM (thermal interface material) in between, the concept of direct liquid cooling puts the liquid in contact with integral fins on IGBT base.

By arranging the fins in a high-density configuration directly beneath the power chip, which is a heat-generating body, the capacity for heat dissipation between the fins and the cooling liquid is increased. The result is that the thermal resistance between the power chip and the cooling liquid is reduced by approximately 30% compared to that of the conventional structure. [10]

Fig. 6. Cross-sectional comparison of conventional cold plate structure and direct liquid cooling structure. [10]

Vapor Cooling

Evaporative cooling technology increases power densities for high power electronics by more than two times according to Parker, which provides a two-phase evaporative liquid cooling system. The technology uses a noncorrosive, non-conductive fluid which vaporizes and cools hot surfaces on contact. [11]

The system uses a small pump to deliver just enough coolant to the evaporator – usually a series of one or more cold plates optimized to acquire the heat from the device(s). In so doing, the two-phase coolant begins to vaporize, maintaining a cool uniform temperature on the surface of the device. The vaporized coolant is then pumped to a heat exchanger where it rejects the heat to the ambient and condenses back into a liquid, completing the cycle.

Figure 7: High=-performance two-phase evaporative cooling allows twice the density of high-power electronics. [11]

Integrating the high-heat removal of two-phase technology with the reliability of low-flow liquid pumping, Parker’s system is highly modular (hot swappable) and scalable. The cooling process continuously cycles the refrigerant within a sealed, closed-loop system to cool a wide range of systems, including power electronics, motors, transformers, and high-efficiency. It simplifies the plumbing and reduces the overall weight, giving it an excellent thermal performance/cost ratio.

Heat Pipes

Another IGBT cooling method is based on standard heat pipes. A series of pipes are embedded in a metal plate under the power semiconductor and extend from the plate to a remote fin stack. Heat from the semiconductor is absorbed by the heat pipes and transported to the fins, which are cooled by natural or forced (fan) convection.

An example of this system is Therma-Charge from Aavid Thermacore. In this system, the IGBT are mounted on both sides of the plate. [12]

Fig. 8. Heat pipes embedded in the plate carry heat to an air-cooled fin section. [12]

References
1. EPE and ECPE “Position paper on Energy Efficiency – the role of Power Electronics,” Summary of results from European Workshop on Energy Efficiency – the role of Power Electronics, Brussels, Belgium, Feb 2007
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulated-gate_bipolar_transistor
3. On Electronics, https://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/HBD871-D.PDF
4. Future Electronics, http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/transistors/igbt-transistor.aspx
5. Mentor Graphics, https://www.mentor.com/products/mechanical/engineering-edge/volume4/issue1/showerpower-turbulator-keeps-IGBT-cool
6. Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS), https://www.qats.com/Products/Liquid-Cooling/Cold-Plates
7. Mersen, http://ep-us.mersen.com/us/products/catalog/line/vacuum-brazed-cold-plates-3-igbt-1064x624mm/
8. Wolverine MicroCool, https://www.microcooling.com/our-products/base-plate-products/igbt-base-plate-products/
9. Mentor Graphics, https://www.mentor.com/products/mechanical/engineering-edge/volume4/issue1/showerpower-turbulator-keeps-IGBT-cool
10. Fuji Electric, http://www.fujielectric.com/company/tech/pdf/58-02/FER-58-2-055-2012.pdf
11. Parker, https://www.parker.com/literature/CIC%20Group/Precision%20Cooling/New
%20literature/Two_Phase_Evaporative_Precision_Cooling_Systems.pdf

12. Aavid Thermacore, http://www.thermacore.com/applications/power-electronics-cooling.aspx

For more information about Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS) products and thermal management consulting and design services, visit www.qats.com or contact ATS at 781.769.2800 or [email protected].