Liquid cooling
Under a liquid cooling refers to the cooling of a heat generating device with the aid of a liquid . It has the advantage over air cooling that larger amounts of heat can be dissipated. The disadvantage is the increased technical effort.
Liquids used
water
Water is most commonly used for liquid cooling because it is non-toxic and non-flammable.
oil
To cool high-voltage devices, in particular power transformers , transformer oil , usually in the form of mineral oil , is used as the coolant because of its good electrical insulating properties. Since mineral oil is flammable, various additives such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) are added to transformer oil , so special structural measures such as oil collecting tanks must be taken in the event of an accident.
Clophen
Earlier uA were as clophenes called PCB-containing mixtures as non-flammable alternative to oil for cooling high-voltage appliances. It is banned today because of its extreme toxicity.
sodium
Liquid sodium is used to cool breeder reactors because it does not slow the speed of the neutrons and has a high thermal conductivity. It must be handled with particular care because of its high flammability and violent reaction with water . Another problem is that it is solid at room temperature , which requires heating of the coolant when the reactor is not in operation. Sodium is also widely used to cool valves in engines.
mercury
Mercury was occasionally used to cool test reactors. It is not well suited for larger reactors because of its high density, which requires large circulation pumps, and its high neutron capture cross-section. Another problem is toxicity.
gallium
Gallium could be interesting for cooling reactors because of its low melting point and high boiling point. However, it is very expensive and likes to alloy with other metals at high temperatures and requires large circulating pumps.
See also
Web links
- Liquid cooling using the example of a combustion engine
- The best heat transfer fluids for liquid cooling
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cooling with sodium acetate trihydrate
- ↑ Use of Gallium ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
