Publish Time: 2022-01-14 Origin: Site
Do you want to minimize power loss by cooling down all the electronics and power devices in your industry? Do you plan on increasing the efficiency of automation controls and large-scale cooling systems?
The best part? It's easy with the cold plate!
We have tried our best to include all details related to the cold plate (Liquid Cold Plate) in the following guide. Now let's get going!
It can be defined as the special type of coolant that dissipates the heat from a power source. It then transfers heat to other chambers of the circuit.
This device is used primarily in the areas where the conventional air coolants fail to remove the excess heat load from the machines.
Furthermore, many industries consider keeping their machines working under optimal temperatures.
Thus, if it is said that a cold plate is used as a coolant for devices, it would not be wrong at all. The high performance of the machines is highly observed when liquid cold plates are integrated with them.
They are also used for devices having high heat flux. In this way, the machine's operation time doesn't matter when it has a cold plate along with it.
They are also known as thermoelectric cold plates since they maintain a substantial balance in electric flow and the flux generated in the form of heat.
It plays the leading role in absorbing and dissipating the heat energy in the device without lowering its efficiency.
Electric cooling systems of many industries are associated with the highest quality of liquid cold plates.
Cold plates, precisely known as liquid cold plates, are mainly used in cooling electric systems to release heat in well-defined ways.
It dissipates heat from the system by transferring it to the other systems. It provides the best localized cooling system for different power devices by transferring heat from the liquid.
It transfers a liquid material that tends to flow through the remote heat exchanger.
The heat is dissipated into either the ambient system or any other cooling system present in the machine during the liquid flow.
However, if it is combined with the air cooling systems, liquid cold plates are known for the efficient dissipation of heat.
This frequent dissipation of heat helps reduce the volume and weight of the cooling power electronic systems. They are integrated with the inlets and outlets along with the internal tubing.
This system supports the liquid coolant to pass through it quickly.
Besides this, there are many advanced cold plates associated with the mini-channels.
These mini-channels play the leading role in lowering the thermal resistance by using nanofluids.
This overall system helps in increasing the ability to transfer the heat. They are mainly placed on the machine or device that needs some cooling effect or dissipation of heat. This heat taken from the cold plate is circulated in the system until it is dissipated entirely.
Regardless of the same operation or working, there is a wide variety of cold plates (liquid cold plates). This variety of the cold plates is due to the varying configurations of the machines.
Manufacturers like Winshare Thermal design different cold plates depending on your application or device.
However, the typical type of cold plates that are integrated into many industries are listed as under:
It can be defined as the particular type of cold plate that mainly utilizes the aluminum multi-port extrusion (MPE) tubing.
It is known for providing long-lasting yet compact thermal management solutions and the lowest thermal resistance value.
This thermal resistance is significantly reduced between the cold plate and the heat source of the mounting surface. They do this by reducing the heat of the container walls.
Flat cold plates are also known as MPE tubes since they contain fins to provide a considerable surface area to increase the thermal performance.
It can be defined as the mechanically interlocked tube made up of either copper or stainless steel and pressed into the aluminum plates. They are also known as the most cost-effective version of the cold plates in the industry.
Furthermore, they are available in continuous tube styles, or you can call them a manifold style.
Above all, their particular tube-like structure makes their system 100% leak-proof. They can also be designed according to the different applications.
This type of cold plate is manufactured by machining two separate metal plates having interior channels and fin structures. Both these plates are carefully sealed together in a special kind of vacuum chamber.
However, these two metal plates are joined together by using a filler metal with a low melting point.
They are famous in different industries because of their unparalleled flexibility. The radius limitations don't limit this property.
The materials used in producing the highest quality cold plates are responsible for their durability. However, metals are mainly used to manufacture different types of liquid cold plates. But, aluminum, copper, and silver are pretty famous for boosting the quality of cold plates.
Besides these materials, a eutectic alloy of silver and copper is also commonly used to make a cold plate (liquid cold plate).
Following manufacturing processes are used for the production of the highest quality cold plates:
This process is used in the manufacturing of cold plates along with the single-sided installation.
First, the copper tube is flattened before the manufacturing of cold plates. After that, the aluminum plate is milled. This process is beneficial for making cold plates since copper has considerable conductivity. Thus, it will take away the heat from the system.
Another name for this method is the solid-state joining procedure. It doesn't ruin the quality of the cold plate since it uses a non-consumable tool for joining two workpieces without melting them.
The continuous rotation of the tool and the material causes friction during its working. This friction produces heat which creates a softened region in the FSW tool.
This method is also used to manufacture cold plates for varying applications.
It included joining two components by heating the braze alloy between the assembly components. Materials used in this process have low melting points.
It is mainly used to make the cold plates used in the heat exchangers and flat tube exchangers.
Here's another method used for the manufacturing of premium quality cold plates. It is also known as the oxyacetylene welding process.
A highly combustible flame is produced when these gases are mixed with equal proportions. It is directly related to the combustion of gases.
Checking the quality of cold plates before integrating them into several applications is necessary.
The leak-proof test ensures the presence of no leaks in the coolant circuit system. However, helium testing is mainly applied as the leak-proof test of cold plates.
Other than traditional hydraulic and nitrogen testing, manufacturers like Winshare Thermal use the helium testing method for checking leaks in the cold plates.
The primary reason behind choosing this method is its ability to detect even smaller leaks during the testing.
Some common advantages of using cold plates are listed as under:
● They maintain a pressure drop
● They provide the fluid stability
● They are used for lowering the temperature of power devices
● They maintain the temperature uniformity in the circuit system
● They dissipate the heat with the help of a liquid flow path
The cold plate is implemented in the following applications of different industries:
Cold plates help to dissipate the heat evenly in the laser equipment. They also increase the laser performance.
They help to transfer the high level of heat in the medical equipment to make them reliable for the treatment of patients. They also increase safety.
Cold plates are also used in the new energy equipment and automobile industry to lower BMS temperature (Battery Management System).
Another critical application of cold plates is sensible energy storage by lowering the temperature of batteries and other machines.
In the solar industry, cold plates are integrated into the solar inverters. They can easily be customized for the inlets or outlets of solar systems.
Furthermore, it saves the solar circuit from the overproduction of heat.
Besides all these applications, cold plates are also used in wind turbines to keep them cool. It prevents recurrent heating during the working of wind turbines.
Brazing plate Copper tube plate Flame welding plate Friction stir welded plate