Dissipating Heat to Air
In many applications, the ultimate heat sink for waste heat is air, especially in electronics cooling applications. Using Thermacore’s heat pipe assemblies and heat spreader technologies, waste heat is typically absorbed from a heat generating device (e.g., an electrical component within an electronics system — i.e. computers and data centers) and then moved or spread for dissipation into the ambient air through either natural or forced (using a fan air mover). Thermal technologies from Thermacore such as remote heat pipe assemblies and vapor chambers allow the designer to move heat from high heat flux components to a location with a larger surface area (typically plate fins or folded fins) and lower heat flux for dissipation into the ambient air.
Dissipating Heat to Liquid
Applications with large heat loads such as military radars or power electronics often require waste heat to be dissipated into the liquid coolants (water, water/glycol, PAO) of a secondary system for ultimate heat dissipation. Thermacore’s heat pipe cold plates and liquid cold plates allow designers to move heat from a heat generating device into a coolant being circulated from a secondary system.
Dissipating Heat through Radiation
As satellites are packaged with more electronics, the challenge of rejecting heat through the limited surface area becomes greater. Thermacore’s low temperature, axially grooved heat pipes (ammonia/aluminum, ethane/aluminum) and loop heat pipe technology make it possible to reject heat through radiator panels that are stored for launch, then deployed from the satellite when the satellite achieves orbit. Our low temperature axially grooved heat pipes spread heat out from the satellite extronics to the radiator panels, dissipating waste heat to space. And our loop heat pipe technology is capable of transporting and rejecting heat loads from hundreds of W to greater than 2,000 W.