Gas-assisted evaporative cooling of high density electronic modules

Gas-assisted evaporative cooling (GAEC), its advantages in thermal packaging of microelectronics, and its implementation in a prototype high-performance computer module, are described. Attention is then turned to theoretical considerations in the flow of gas-liquid-vapor mixtures in narrow, parallel plate channels, and to the design and operation of an appropriate experimental apparatus. Next, experimental results for the wall temperature, heat-transfer coefficients, and pressure drops are presented and compared to theoretical predictions. It is shown that this novel technique is capable of providing effective thermal management for electronic components, in the presence,of both high heat fluxes (of order 20 W/cm²) and high thermal density (of order 50 W/cm³)