Dense Spray Cooled DC-DC Converter

Advances in system packaging are driving densities to unprecedented levels. The increasing densities are creating significant thermal management challenges. In addition, the military is operating under conditions that are pushing operating temperatures to much higher levels. This combination of events is pushing the military to adopt more aggressive liquid-cooling technologies. The authors have demonstrated a dense DC-DC power converter for use with a fully functional 380W "CompactPCI" dual Opteron server blade, housed in a fully functional 20-slot chassis. All electronics within the chassis were cooled using SprayCool technology. A comparable air-cooled Tracewell TTX400 converter is 2times the footprint and 4times the volume, and delivers approximately 75% of the power in a 40degC ambient. At the system level, the air-cooled solution requires 2times the number of slots for a comparable 8 kW payload. The SprayCool converter was tested under conditions simulating a 45degC ambient, and all key components on the converter were maintained well under the manufacturers\´ specifications. The converter, blade, and chassis were also subjected to a 196 hour robustness test, during which the converter exhibited no problems. Future work will extend ambient conditions to 60degC and beyond. These and other findings will be discussed in detail in the paper