Heat exchange foam
First Claim
1. A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional heat exchanger, comprising:
- providing an open cell foam having hollow ligaments;
partially filling said hollow ligaments of said foam with a working fluid;
evacuating all contents of said hollow ligaments except for the desired quantity of said working fluid, wherein said working fluid fills between about 0.05% and about 15% of the internal volume of said hollow ligaments of said foam; and
sealing the ends of said hollow ligaments to contain said working fluid.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for the efficient transfer of heat utilizing micro heat pipes that include a cellular foam or interconnected cellular/truss network having hollow ligaments. A predetermined fraction of the internal volume of the hollow ligaments is filled with a carefully chosen working fluid, and the ends of the hollow ligaments are sealed. In operation, the working fluid evaporates in the region of high heat flux and condenses in regions of lower temperature, resulting in the transfer or redistribution of the fluid'"'"'s latent heat of vaporization. For open cell foams and interconnected networks, a second fluid flowing through the open cells, separate from the working fluid but also in thermal contact with the hollow ligaments, assists in the transfer of heat from the foam and networks.
197 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional heat exchanger, comprising:
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providing an open cell foam having hollow ligaments; partially filling said hollow ligaments of said foam with a working fluid; evacuating all contents of said hollow ligaments except for the desired quantity of said working fluid, wherein said working fluid fills between about 0.05% and about 15% of the internal volume of said hollow ligaments of said foam; and sealing the ends of said hollow ligaments to contain said working fluid. - 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)
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24. A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional heat exchanger, comprising:
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providing an open cell foam having hollow ligaments; partially filling said hollow ligaments of said foam with a working fluid; evacuating all contents of said hollow ligaments except for the desired quantity of said working fluid; and sealing the ends of said hollow ligaments to contain said working fluid; and wherein said hollow foam is formed by a method comprising; providing a solid ligament foam; coating said solid ligament foam with a material of higher melting temperature than said solid ligament foam; and evaporating said solid ligament foam by heating the coated solid ligament foam combination to a temperature greater than vaporization temperature of said solid ligament foam, but below the melting temperature of said coating material. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification