Mini Vapor Cycle System for high density electronic cooling applications

This paper reports the experimental analysis of a mini Vapor Cycle System (VCS) for electronic thermal management in avionic applications. The water cooled miniature scale refrigeration system uses R134a as working fluid and implements a new concept oil-free linear compressor prototype. In the range of operating test conditions investigated the pressure ratio varies from 1.54 to 3.75, the cooling capacity of the system varied from 37 W to 374 W, while the coefficient of performance (COP) ranged between 1.04 and 5.80. Particular attention was dedicated to the cold plate design, which had to meet the requirements established by aeronautical standards. The cold plate was equipped with 15 thermocouples in order to monitor the wall temperature distribution. The suitability and feasibility of the proposed cold plate for electronic thermal management in an aeronautical environment is critically discussed, based on the experimental results.