Silent, microchip-sized 'fan' has no moving parts, yet produces enough wind to cool a laptop
The compact, solid-state fan, developed with support from NSF's Small Business Innovation Research program, is the most powerful and energy efficient fan of its size. It produces three times the flow rate of a typical small mechanical fan and is one-fourth the size.
"The RSD5 is one of the most significant advancements in electronics cooling since heat pipes. It could change the cooling paradigm for mobile electronics," said Singhal.
Within the intense electric field that results, ions push neutral air molecules from the wire to the plate, generating a wind. The phenomenon is called corona wind.
the researchers were able to control the micro-scale discharge to produce maximum airflow without risk of sparks or electrical arcing. As a result, the new device yields a breeze as swift as 2.4 meters per second, as compared to airflows of 0.7 to 1.7 meters per second from larger, mechanical fans.
"The technology has the power to cool a 25-watt chip with a device smaller than 1 cubic-cm and can someday be integrated into silicon to make self-cooling chips," said Schlitz.
Solid State Fan, Ionic Cooling Hits The Big Time!
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Solid State Fan, Ionic Cooling Hits The Big Time!
http://www.physorg.com/news125057974.html
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Well it would make sense that by changing how much power you give the "fan" the airflow could go up and down. This would allow for very high CFM or a near silent option with CFM that we are used to seeing today.tehfire wrote:Does sound very cool, though at 2.4m/s it seems that wind turbulence would still be an issue...
turbulence is necessary for good heat removal.tehfire wrote:Does sound very cool, though at 2.4m/s it seems that wind turbulence would still be an issue...
the electrodes are specially shaped to concentrate the electric field. I expect the voltage is not actually that high.Although the "intense electric field" part sounds like something to keep at a safe distance from my HDD.
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A 120 mm fan spinning at about 1000 RPM will push approx. 40 CFM.jaganath wrote:turbulence is necessary for good heat removal.tehfire wrote:Does sound very cool, though at 2.4m/s it seems that wind turbulence would still be an issue...
That is about 1.3 m/s.
Even at very low speeds, air will become turbulent (influenced by hitting hardware/obstructions inside a case amplifies this).
Some users will not even notice the air noise much at this speed, and at lower speeds the noise will become practically inaudible.
So, ± 1 m/s is "quiet", but there is a considerable amount of air moving.
Is this what causes the air/wind noise? Is CFM more of a contributing factor to noise than the speed of the air itself?
A "fan" producing 3 times as much flow at a quarter of the size of a normal fan will produce less CFM than the normal fan. The airflow is more concentrated, therefore the speed is higher, but the amount of air moving is only 75%.
So... I don't know if this will make more or less noise than a normal fan...
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You have just re-invented the "250mm" fan, widely ignored here at SPCR. Congratulations.edlight1 wrote:Perhaps if they make a bigger one and run it conservatively, then the airflow through each part of it would be slower and hence quieter, unless the technology buzzes.
The energy of a fan's airstream is proportional to the cube of the air velocity. It doesn't matter what propells the air. Same CFM, same "whoosh". Interesting idea though: I don't see ball bearings anywhere and no ball bearings in a fan is a really good idea.
FC, a standard 25cm fan would take up most of the internal space in a standard laptop! these grids are intended to be not much larger than the chip/die package, and integrated onto them in the manufacturing process.You have just re-invented the "250mm" fan, widely ignored here at SPCR. Congratulations.
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Better picture of the thing here:
http://www.thorrn.com/technology.html
The curved and vented (aluminium?) part becomes the heat-sink when integrated onto a chip. There are (not visible in the picture) ultra fine wire electrodes that stretch down the length of each vented gully.
http://www.thorrn.com/technology.html
The curved and vented (aluminium?) part becomes the heat-sink when integrated onto a chip. There are (not visible in the picture) ultra fine wire electrodes that stretch down the length of each vented gully.
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Yes. The device shown is 15 x 15mm, each 'gully' is ~3mm across, so air gap to electrode is ~1.5mm. Air breaks down at about 1100V/mm (if memory serves) so maximum voltage would be less than 1650vjaganath wrote:
the electrodes are specially shaped to concentrate the electric field. I expect the voltage is not actually that high.
Last edited by BillTodd on Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mine is, what happens when dust - somewhat conductive dust - settles on the very narrow electrode spacing? ZZAP!... or does the fan simply quit blowing air? Will circuits that shut down the computer be needed when the air stops blowing and cooling?NeilBlanchard wrote:My first question about this technology is does it produce ozone?
"This device is also more dust-tolerant than predecessors" I would still be worrying about that. its still going to collect dust and if left unchecked could be dangerous.
If you have ever looked through the instructions off the small plugin air purifiers using this kind of technology you will see all kinds of warnings, the most worrying being fire.
If you have ever looked through the instructions off the small plugin air purifiers using this kind of technology you will see all kinds of warnings, the most worrying being fire.
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I'm curious about the energy balance. Real mass (air) is being accellerated from standstill to a moving column of air, just like a regular fan. Thus, the air gains kinetic energy. This energy has to come from somewhere. So at least one of the two electrodes of the ion machine will have to have input current, such that the electrical power input is at least as much as the power output. Do both electrodes require power (electrical current), or just one of them? Is the ion engine efficiency 100%? 10%? 1%? What?NeilBlanchard wrote:I'm curious: which direction does the air flow?
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http://www.thorrn.com/technology.htmlFelger Carbon wrote:I'm curious about the energy balance. Real mass (air) is being accellerated from standstill to a moving column of air, just like a regular fan. Thus, the air gains kinetic energy. This energy has to come from somewhere. So at least one of the two electrodes of the ion machine will have to have input current, such that the electrical power input is at least as much as the power output. Do both electrodes require power (electrical current), or just one of them? Is the ion engine efficiency 100%? 10%? 1%? What?NeilBlanchard wrote:I'm curious: which direction does the air flow?
Quoting from the link above
It doesn't say how many "volts" though.It involves application of a voltage difference between two electrodes; a geometrically sharp electrode and a blunt electrode.