Spot Cooling Mini-Loop Heat Pipes

Conventional forced-air cooling (fans + finned heat sinks) of computer/network electronics is no longer adequate in the submarine ship environment. This Phase II SBIR project will develop a novel ceramic flat plate evaporator as the key component of a loop heat pipe-based rack cooling system for network hardware aboard Navy submarines. The primary Phase II tasks are: Thermal Performance modeling, Evaporator Development, Demonstration Cooling of a 500W Server. Two Phase II Options are proposed to further advance the technology. Option #1 will develop a Mini-Rack Cooling System Test Bed and demonstrate the rack-level cooling approach. Option #2 will expand the test bed to include another server and determine the feasibility of sealing the network components to reduce noise levels and heat dissipation to the ambient air. If successful this Phase II effort will result in demonstration of a novel cooling approach for racked computer/electronics hardware that has the potential to eliminate a substantial number of fans within a rack/cabinet and provide greatly enhanced cooling such that higher density racks are enabled.