Enclosures, having no moving parts other than air circulating
fans, are efficiently and effectively cooled by the technology of heatpipes.
Applications requiring sealed enclosures, but having limited power supplies,
are highly suitable for heat pipes.
Heatpipes consist of sealed tubes fitted with external fins
made of aluminum to improve the transfer of heat. After evacuating air from
heat pipes, small amounts of a refrigerant fill the heatpipes. The refrigerant
exhibits characteristics that are suitable at an ambient temperature.
The refrigerant begins as a liquid near the bottom of the
tube. Hot air, coming from the enclosure, blows over the section at the bottom.
As the liquid evaporates, it absorbs heat and rises to the section near the top
of the tube. The air that surrounds the bottom is cooled. The section of tube
at the top has cooler outside air exposure that causes the vapor to condense
and return to liquid form. Vapor emits heat that warms the section of the tube
near the top. The aluminum fins transfer the heat to the air outside the tube.
Condensation causes the liquid to flow to the bottom where the process is
repeated.
Heatpipes use no power. The hot air in the enclosure provides
energy for operation. Overall efficiency is improved when small air circulation
fans draw warm air from the enclosure, pass it over finned tubes, and return
cool air to the enclosure. Ambient air is blown over the end of the heat pipes
that are hot, by external fans to increase the heat removal rate. Less than 60
watts of power are required to allow heat exchange operation, having a 10ᵒ F
differential, that can remove 400 watts of enclosure heat.
Because there are no moving parts that will fail, the heat
exchange is entirely static. Only small circulating fans produce any noise.
That characteristic makes heatpipe technology excellent for noise sensitive
areas.
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