Compact Spray Cooling Module for Viable High-heat-flux Thermal Management

微电子学和电力电子学的快速发展伴随着电子元件的不断小型化和功率增加。大量的热量需要通过小区域传递，而温升必须低于材料和可靠性限制所规定的安全极限。为了处理高热流密度，迫切需要积极和创新的液体冷却技术。尽管大量的研究表明，喷雾冷却具有最高的冷却效率，但长期以来，它在成为一种可行的冷却技术方面一直面临着巨大的差距。这项研究将通过开发一种紧凑型喷雾冷却模块(CSCM)来缩小长期的研究-应用差距，该模块具有内部喷雾撞击，可以直接安装进行冷却。CSCM有一种新型的喷雾发生器，可以产生可预测、可控制和有效的喷雾流量。CSCM可以使用水或其他非介质冷却剂来冷却电子元件。这将通过使用氮化铝板和铜微粒开发一种电绝缘、导热和表面增强的墙来实现。CSCM具有高效的流体管理，因此蒸汽和液体不断被清除，以维持CSCM内有效的自由表面流动。CSCM在喷雾、表面和流体管理方面不同于所有以前的喷雾冷却设置。对其独特的流体力学和传热学有一个基本的了解，这对CSCM的发展至关重要。在UBC Okanagan大学的热管理与多相流实验室，将进行大量的实验研究，结合理论分析和数值模拟，研究喷雾流动的流体动力学，喷雾冲击沸腾在微孔表面的流体力学和传热，以及流体管理中的汽液流动动力学。这项研究将为热流体科学界做出重要贡献。CSCM将使喷雾冷却适用于计算机、数据中心、电力转换器、混合动力/电动汽车、卫星、航天器、飞机、定向能武器、雷达等。凭借卓越的冷却能力，CSCM将加速或支持加拿大许多高科技行业的下一代产品和技术，如微电子、电力电子、航空和国防。经过培训的HQP将成为高素质的液体冷却和热管理工程师。

The rapid technological advancements in microelectronics and power electronics have been accompanied by continuous miniaturization and power increase of electronic components. Large amounts of heat need to transfer through small areas, while temperature rises must be below safety limits that are dictated by material and reliability constraints. To handle the high heat fluxes, there is an urgent need for aggressive and innovative liquid cooling techniques. Despite its highest cooling effectiveness demonstrated by numerous research studies, spray cooling has long been facing significant gap from being a viable cooling technique. This research will close the longstanding research-application gap by developing a Compact Spray Cooling Module (CSCM), which has internal spray impingement and can be directly mounted for cooling. CSCM has a novel spray generator that generates predictable, controllable and effective spray flow. CSCM can cool electronic components using water or other non-dielectric coolants. This will be achieved by developing an electrically-insulating, thermally-conductive, and surface-enhanced wall using Aluminum Nitride plate and copper micro-particles. CSCM has efficient fluid management so that vapor and liquid are constantly removed to sustain effective free-surface flows inside CSCM. CSCM is different from all previous spray cooling setups in terms of spray, surface, and fluid management. Fundamental understanding of its unique fluid dynamics and heat transfer is crucial to the development of CSCM. In the Thermal Management & Multiphase Flows Lab at UBC Okanagan, extensive experimental studies combined with theoretical analyses and numerical simulations will be conducted to investigate the hydrodynamics of spray flow, the fluid mechanics and heat transfer of spray impact boiling on microporous surfaces, and the flow dynamics of vapor and liquid in fluid management. The research will provide important contribution to the community of thermal fluid sciences. CSCM will make spray cooling viable for computers, data centers, power converters, hybrid/electric vehicles, satellites, spacecraft, aircraft, directed energy weapons, radars, etc. With superior cooling capacity, CSCM will speed up or enable next-generation products and technologies in many high-tech industries in Canada such as microelectronics, power electronics, aviation, and defense. The trained HQP will become highly qualified engineers of liquid cooling and thermal management.