Electroosmotic microchannel cooling system
First Claim
1. A cooling system for a heat emitting device, the cooling system operating using a fluid having a liquid phase, the cooling system comprising:
- a substrate including at least a portion of a microchannel disposed therein, the substrate adapted to physically connect to the heat emitting device, thereby providing for the transfer of thermal energy from the heat emitting device to the substrate, and the further transfer of thermal energy from the substrate to the fluid disposed within the microchannel, the microchannel configured to provide flow of the fluid therethrough;
a heat exchanger configured to provide flow of the fluid therethrough and the transfer of thermal energy out of the fluid;
an electroosmotic pump, the electroosmotic pump creating the flow of the fluid; and
wherein the substrate, the heat exchanger, and the electroosmotic pump are configured to operate together to create a closed loop fluid flow.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods according to the present invention preferably utilize electroosmotic pumps that are capable of generating high pressure and flow without moving mechanical parts and the associated generation of unacceptable electrical and acoustic noise, as well as the associated reduction in reliability. These electroosmotic pumps are preferably fabricated with materials and structures that improve performance, efficiency, and reduce weight and manufacturing cost relative to presently available micropumps. These electroosmotic pumps also preferably allow for recapture of evolved gases and deposited materials, which may provide for long-term closed-loop operation. Apparatus and methods according to the present invention also allow active regulation of the temperature of the device through electrical control of the flow through the pump and can utilize multiple cooling loops to allow independent regulation of the special and temporal characteristics of the device temperature profiles. Novel microchannel structures are also described.
76 Citations
114 Claims
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1. A cooling system for a heat emitting device, the cooling system operating using a fluid having a liquid phase, the cooling system comprising:
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a substrate including at least a portion of a microchannel disposed therein, the substrate adapted to physically connect to the heat emitting device, thereby providing for the transfer of thermal energy from the heat emitting device to the substrate, and the further transfer of thermal energy from the substrate to the fluid disposed within the microchannel, the microchannel configured to provide flow of the fluid therethrough;
a heat exchanger configured to provide flow of the fluid therethrough and the transfer of thermal energy out of the fluid;
an electroosmotic pump, the electroosmotic pump creating the flow of the fluid; and
wherein the substrate, the heat exchanger, and the electroosmotic pump are configured to operate together to create a closed loop fluid flow. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A thermal transfer apparatus connected to a semiconductor heat emitting device, the thermal transfer apparatus operating using a fluid having a liquid phase comprising:
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a substrate adapted to physically connect to the semiconductor heat emitting device;
first and second microchannel fluid inlets disposed in the substrate;
first and second microchannel fluid outlets disposed in the substrate; and
first and second microchannels connected between the respective first and second fluid inlets and the first and second fluid outlets, the first and second microchannels thereby providing independent fluid flow paths. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A thermal transfer apparatus that operates using a fluid having a liquid phase comprising:
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a semiconductor heat emitting device, the semiconductor heat emitting device including a thermal control circuit;
a substrate adapted to physically connect to the semiconductor heat emitting device;
first and second microchannel fluid inlets disposed in either the substrate or the semiconductor heat emitting device;
first and second microchannel fluid outlets disposed in either the substrate or the semiconductor heat emitting device;
first and second microchannels disposed in either the substrate or the semiconductor heat emitting device connected between the respective first and second microchannel fluid inlets and the first and second fluid microchannel outlets, the first and second microchannels thereby providing independent fluid flow paths; and
first and second temperature sensors disposed within the substrate and electrically connected to the thermal control circuit so that the signals from the first and second temperature sensors are input to the control circuit.
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69. An electroosmotic pump that pumps a fluid having a liquid phase upon application of a voltage comprising:
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a fluid chamber having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet;
an anode disposed within an anode chamber portion;
a cathode disposed within a cathode chamber portion;
a porous structure that provides electroosmotic pumping upon application of the voltage between the anode and the cathode, the porous structure creating a partition in the fluid chamber between the anode chamber portion and the cathode chamber portion; and
a catalytic recombiner integrated with the fluid chamber. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81)
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82. A method of making a portion of an electroosmotic pump comprising:
forming a plastic frame containing an open chamber therein, the open chamber being separated into first and second chamber portions at least partially by a porous dielectric disposed within the plastic frame. - View Dependent Claims (83, 84)
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85. A method of placing a microchannel in a substrate so that the microchannel can transfer fluid having a liquid phase therethrough and dissipate thermal energy in a particular integrated circuit chip comprising the steps of:
selecting the particular integrated circuit chip;
using a computer, predicting locations and cross sectional shapes of the microchannel in the substrate that will sufficiently dissipate thermal energy with the fluid flowing therethrough, the step of predicting locations and cross sectional shapes of the microchannel including the step of iteratively computing fluid and solid temperature and pressure distributions for iteratively determined potential locations and potential cross sectional shapes of the microchannel in the substrate; and
creating the microchannel at the predicted microchannel locations with the predicted cross sectional shapes in the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87, 88, 89)
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90. An apparatus for use with a cooling system operating using a fluid having a liquid phase, the apparatus comprising:
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a heat emitting device, the heat emitting device including a heat emitting element; and
a substrate physically connected to the heat emitting device, with the heat emitting device and the substrate each containing at least a portion of a microchannel, thereby providing for the transfer of thermal energy from the heat emitting device to the substrate, and the further transfer of thermal energy to the fluid disposed within the microchannel, the microchannel configured to provide flow of the fluid therethrough. - View Dependent Claims (91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101)
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102. An electroosmotic pump that pumps a fluid having a liquid phase upon application of a voltage comprising:
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a fluid chamber having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet;
an anode disposed within an anode chamber portion;
first and second cathodes disposed within respective first and second cathode chamber portions; and
first and second porous structures that provide electroosmotic pumping upon application of the voltage between the anode and the first and second cathodes, each of the first and second porous structures creating a partition in the fluid chamber between the anode chamber portion and the respective cathode chamber portions. - View Dependent Claims (103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110)
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111. A cooling system for a heat emitting device, the cooling system operating using a fluid having a liquid phase, the cooling system comprising:
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a substrate including at least a portion of a microchannel disposed therein, the substrate adapted to physically connect to the heat emitting device, thereby providing for the transfer of thermal energy from the heat emitting device to the substrate, and the further transfer of thermal energy from the substrate to the fluid disposed within the microchannel, the microchannel configured to provide flow of the fluid therethrough;
a heat exchanger configured to provide flow of the fluid therethrough and the transfer of thermal energy from the heat exchanger;
an electroosmotic pump, the electroosmotic pump creating the flow of the fluid; and
wherein the substrate, the heat exchanger, and the electroosmotic pump are configured to operate together using an open loop fluid flow.
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112. A method or providing for heat transfer away from a heat emitting device comprising:
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using an electroosmotic pump to create a flow of a fluid having a liquid phase;
directing the fluid flow to pass through a microchannel in a substrate with the substrate physically connected to the heat emitting device to thereby create a heated fluid; and
further directing the heated fluid to pass through a heat exchanger to thereby create a cooled fluid; and
causing the steps of using, directing and further directing to operate to create a closed loop fluid flow. - View Dependent Claims (113, 114)
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Specification