Sandia Scientists Develop Spinning CPU Cooler

Advances in cooling technology are few and far between, but scientists at the Sandia National Laboratories have developed a new technology with the potential to dramatically alter the air-cooling landscape in computing and microelectronics.

The “Sandia Cooler,” also known as the “Air Bearing Heat Exchanger,” was developed by Sandia researcher Jeff Koplow, who believes that his cooler design has the potential to decrease overall electrical power consumption in the U.S. by more than seven percent.

More specifically, this could be used to cool processor chips in data centers and large-scale computing environments, but also in other applications where thermal management and energy efficiency are important, like heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC).

In a conventional CPU cooler, the heat transfer bottleneck is the boundary layer of “dead air” that clings to the cooling fins.

However, with the Sandia Cooler, heat is efficiently transferred across a narrow air gap from a stationary base to a rotating structure.

“The normally stagnant boundary layer of air enveloping the cooling fins is subjected to a powerful centrifugal pumping effect, causing the boundary layer thickness to be reduced to ten times thinner than normal.

“This reduction enables a dramatic improvement in cooling performance within a much smaller package,” explains the press release sent out by the Sandia National Laboratories.

In addition to greatly impacting cooling performance, this technology has also the benefit of providing much quieter operation than standard processor coolers, since the fins have a more aerodynamic design that slices through air more efficiently.

Researchers have already built a proof-of-concept prototype, approximately sized to cool computer CPUs.

Right now, Sandia National Laboratories officials are seeking licensees in the electronics chip cooling field to license and commercialize the device. Additionally, the lab will soon establish a separate process for exploring partnering and/or licensing opportunities in other fields.