SBIR Phase II: Miniature Cooling System for Laptop Computers

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a compact, light-weight and noiseless cooling system for laptop computers. The product will be an air cooled, micro-channel heat sink with an electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) pump integrated within the channels. Research will focus on the development of a heat sink with a large parallel array of micro-channels to provide optimal thermal resistance. The second major area of development will be the EHD air flow device; a modification to the corona wind technique will be used to provide air flow through the heat sink. Other tasks include power supply development, system integration, manufacturing process development and reliability improvement. As the speed and performance of laptop computers increases, the power density in the microprocessors rises and they dissipate more heat. The proposed project addresses the fact that laptop computer cooling systems will be required to dissipate upwards of 40 Watts while maintaining the microprocessor below 85 degrees C. Commercially, the proposed cooling system is being developed for the growing laptop computing market. More than 235 million personal computers will be sold in 2007; roughly one-third of which or about 80 million will be laptop computers. The proposed product's small size and excellent heat dissipation capabilities will enable laptop computer manufacturers to incorporate faster processors while simultaneously reducing the overall size and weight of their products. Besides cooling applications, electro-hydrodynamic pumping technology can be used as a means of providing precise control of small amounts of liquid. This has application as an insulin delivery mechanism for diabetics and in the so-called laboratory-on-a-chip.