Liquid Metal Cooling

[tansis]

Just when you thought the idea of watercooling was bad enough,
this method is set to become more mainstream with the introduction
of Sapphire's new Blizzard card prototype, with the final sale version
even rumoured to be fanless, chilling chips down to a cool 12c using
liquid metal. An electromagnetic pump means less to go wrong , or at least mechanically wrong that is ,and gives silent operation.

 

[williB]

i suppose using mercury is an ok idea..a little toxic but ok..

 

[panic mode]

untill you get a leak and PC ends in smoke... :lol:

 

[Oznog]

It is not mercury. They'd run into a lot of trouble using that for this app.

While Sapphire is not letting on, it is probably gallium, which is not toxic, or an alloy thereof. Since it melts in your hand this would be in the range we're looking for. I don't know how the electromagnetic pump works, would be really cool to find out. I suspect more info on these trade secrets will be regrettably slow in coming.

I'd love to have that sort of cooling available for my stuff...

 

[Styx]

Better option would be to seal all the sockets and suspend in a vat of caster oil, just to ensure good electrical contact possible for the worst connections around

Then just suspend the whole motherboard in a vat of caster oil. It is thermally very conductive (then you can have a heat exchanger somewhere else if you really want it) but it is electrically an insulator and can tolerate a hell of alot of contamination before it start to conduct (and then it is alot)

The best bit is yr fans still work in the oil, be it a bit slower but that just aids in moving the oil around to spread the heat out

IF you wanted to make this even better as mentioned add a heat exchanger.The head exchanger can be as simple as a coil of copper pipe dunked into the vat and water running through it.

 

[Pyroandrew]

I was thinking it would be gallium as well. Shoud it spring a leak, you would not have as many problems as you might think. As the gallium is vented it would freeze and irregular shapes minimising the risk if shorts (gallium is pretty weird stuff, I've got a few kilos at home I play with), in fact, where the gallium would be there are not very many things it can short. A liquid would spell disaster as it would short just about everything. Mercury would not pose a great risk of short either (if it were used, but it will not, especially in Europe because of RoHS), it's surface tension would prevent it from wetting the contacts and pins, only the smallest and sharpest pins would be able to become wetted.

All that aside, there would most probably be an automatic power cutting device in the system should a leak be detected. I can't see it being a problem, good thinking, except gallium is b*stard rapeing expensive, an alloy would definately be on the cards as Oznog has mentioned.

There is one problem with deep immersion/potting of whole systems, that is the things you don't want to get hot, will. It's great news for processors, chipsets and bridges, but bad news for just about everything else. using oil cooling is a good idea though, but cooling should only target things that need it. I think veg oil has a lower specific capacity than water though, so gram for gram of coolant you need a higher spec compressor.

 

[spuffock]

An alloy of sodium and potassium is liquid down to 0 centigrade........

 

[Pyroandrew]

There are many earth metal alloys that have low melting points (relitively), the problem is that if there were a leak, it would explode, no joke!

 

[Dngrsone]

I don't know how the electromagnetic pump works, would be really cool to find out. I suspect more info on these trade secrets will be regrettably slow in coming.

Most likely an Einstein-Szilard **broken link removed**. Ideal for use when and where moving parts are a hindrance.

 

[Oznog]

Most likely an Einstein-Szilard **broken link removed**. Ideal for use when and where moving parts are a hindrance.

I doubt it's one of those! I know that as the Servel cycle. It is not a dissipation method but rather refrigeration which requires a significant power input. They're actually complicated pain-in-the-ass units. Tend to develop blockages or corrode tubing internally. Since they're gravity feed units, they have to be oriented "up" within a few degrees or they stop working and overheat.

 

[Dngrsone]

Most likely an Einstein-Szilard **broken link removed**. Ideal for use when and where moving parts are a hindrance.

I doubt it's one of those! I know that as the Servel cycle. It is not a dissipation method but rather refrigeration which requires a significant power input. They're actually complicated pain-in-the-ass units. Tend to develop blockages or corrode tubing internally. Since they're gravity feed units, they have to be oriented "up" within a few degrees or they stop working and overheat.

The **broken link removed** is a different technology. Einstein was aware of the Platen/Munters cycle and developed a new method of accompplishing the same thing. Einstein-Szilard are being used in nuclear power plants specifically because they use no moving parts and require less maintenance (and therefore less chance of contaminant release) than typical cooling technologies.

References: **broken link removed**
**broken link removed** June 1998... Servel has been around a lot longer than that.

 

[lord loh.]

Fanless? could it be by using paramagnetic substances that moves in an electric field?

Another guess is the use of seebeck Effect, Peltier Effect or Thomson Effrect?