A cooler includes an evaporator and a condenser. The evaporator includes a housing, a wick, and a groove member having a plurality of vapor flow channels through which working fluid changed in phase from a liquid phase to a gas phase flows, the groove member being coupled to the wick. The housing includes a heat receiver to which the heat is transferred from a cooling target. The groove member includes a plurality of plate-like members, arranged side by side along a predetermined direction, and constituting the plurality of vapor flow channels. Each of the plate-like members includes a bent part formed by bending a part of the plate-like member, the bent part being coupled to the heat receiver.

A cooling system for a photovoltaic panel including micro flat heat pipes (HP) integrated with thermoelectric generators (TEG) and a cooled water reservoir for cooling the working fluid in heat pipes. The cooled water in the reservoir is pumped from the condensate pan of an air conditioner. Experimental results show that cooling system reduced the average temperature of the panel by as much as 19 C. or 25%. Further, the output power of the photovoltaic panel increased by 44% when the photovoltaic panel was used in a very hot climate (30-40 C.). An additional two watts of power was generated by the TEGs.

The present invention provides a PCB assembly. The PCB assembly comprises a PCB board element comprising an outer surface, and a micro heat pipe configured for heat transport. The micro heat pipe has a pipe wall and at least a section of the pipe wall is connected to the outer surface of the PCB board element in a thermally conductive manner. The thermally conductive connection may comprise a solder connection. Thus, a corresponding micro heat pipe may comprise a pipe wall, wherein at least a section of the pipe wall is configured to be soldered to a PCB element. Furthermore, the present invention provides a corresponding method of manufacturing a PCB assembly.

A thermal ground plane with hybrid structures that include nanowires is disclosed. The thermal ground plane includes a first casing having an exterior surface and an interior surface, the interior surface includes plurality of microstructures with a plurality of nanowires; a second casing, wherein the first casing and the second casing are sealed to an interior space that includes a working fluid; and a wicking layer disposed within the interior space.

A pin fin heat exchanger including a pin fin heat pipe. A main tube of the heat pipe may divide at the evaporator end into a number of pin fin evaporators, each having fluid entrances and exits to the main tube; and at the condenser end into a number of pin fin condensers, each having fluid entrances and exits to the main tube.

A system and method for providing and using wickless capillary driven constrained vapor bubble heat pipes for application in electronic devices with various system platforms are disclosed. An example embodiment includes: a substrate; and a plurality of wickless capillary driven constrained vapor bubble heat pipes embedded in the substrate, each wickless capillary driven constrained vapor bubble heat pipe including a body having a capillary therein with generally square corners and a high energy interior surface, and a highly wettable liquid partially filling the capillary to dissipate heat between an evaporator region and a condenser region.

A system comprising a first plurality of microchannels, a second plurality of microchannels in thermal communication with the first plurality of microchannels such that the first plurality of microchannels and second plurality of microchannels form a heat exchanger, and a phase change composite in thermal communication with the heat exchanger and methods of operating are disclosed herein.

A vapor-chamber that includes a porous microstructure sheet with varying surface energy across different regions to optimize utilization of a working fluid. Modulating the surface energy of the porous microstructure sheet can minimize the amount of the working fluid that becomes trapped in the condenser region(s) and maximize an aggregate thin-film evaporation area of the working fluid in the evaporator region(s). The condenser region of the vapor-chamber is treated so that the internal surfaces have low surface energy. For example, the treatment may cause the condenser region to become hydrophobic to minimize the amount of fluid that becomes trapped in the condenser. The evaporator region is treated so that the internal surfaces have high surface energy. For example, the treatment may cause the evaporator region to become hydrophilic to induce the formation of large numbers of robust (e.g., dry-out resistant) thin-film evaporation sites.

A loop heat pipe includes a first heat pipe portion and a second heat pipe portion. The first heat pipe portion includes a first evaporator, a first condenser, a first vapor tube, and a first liquid tube. The second heat pipe portion includes a second evaporator, a second condenser, a second vapor tube, and a second liquid tube. The loop heat pipe further includes a connecting portion that connects the first condenser and the second condenser.

An apparatus includes first and second microchannel heat exchangers and first and second pipes. The first heat exchanger includes a first inlet, a second inlet, a first tube, a second tube, a first outlet, and a second outlet. Refrigerant at the first inlet is directed through the first tube to the first outlet and the first pipe. Refrigerant at the second inlet is directed through the second tube to the second outlet and the second pipe. The second heat exchanger includes a third inlet, a fourth inlet, a third tube, a fourth tube, a third outlet, and a fourth outlet. The third inlet directs refrigerant from the first pipe through the third tube towards the third outlet. The fourth inlet directs the refrigerant from the second pipe through the fourth tube towards the fourth outlet. The first pipe overlaps the second pipe between the two heat exchangers.