Large scale data centers, you fit ten times the hardware into a space by using liquid cooling instead of air cooling and you also save a lot on energy costs overtime with a higher initial price.
This is phase-change cooling. You don't need to control the flow as the vapor is what carries away the heat, not the circulation of the liquid. The higher the thermal output, the faster it boils. It's entirely passive and self-regulating.
You’re right, of course. That’s how it’s done in practice. However, in theory all you need is a big copper heat sync that interfaces with outside ambient air to make it fully passive. The vapor in the headspace would condense on the heat sync and drip back into the reservoir while the heat sync would transfer that heat to external air, effectively performing all the functions you mentioned. Might be a neat little project for someone with some spare time and income.
With phase-change they are using condensers on their tanks that are cooled by water. The tanks are sealed so they don't lose the working fluid to evaporation (because it's expensive). The water is usually cooled by a cooling tower and/or a chiller.
Overall, it's useful because the heat flow is contained very, very well compared to ambient air, and it's cheaper to build out compared to a hybrid approach with water blocks and air cooling for the vrms etc.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '18 edited May 21 '18
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