The present invention provides a vehicle (100) comprising: a body (4) having a skin; a heat source (12); and a thermal management system. The thermal management system comprises: a heat pipe (14) comprising: an evaporator end (close to 12) and a condenser end (close to heat exchanger 22a, 22b); a vapour arranged to flow from the evaporator end to the condenser end; and a working fluid arranged to flow from the condenser end to the evaporator end, wherein the heat pipe (14) is arranged such that the evaporator end is arranged in proximity to the heat source to absorb heat from the heat source; and one or more heat exchangers arranged in proximity to the condenser end and integrated with the skin. The present invention also provides a method of managing temperature in a vehicle.

Heat switches are presented herein for controlling a flow of heat between thermal stages of a cryostat. In one aspect, a heat switch for a cryostat includes a thermal linkage configured to simultaneously contact a first thermal stage and a second thermal stage of the cryostat and define a thermal pathway therebetween. The thermal linkage includes a superconducting element disposed along a portion of the thermal pathway that is capable of transitioning between a superconducting state and a non-superconducting state. A thermal conductivity of the superconducting state is lower than a thermal conductivity of the non-superconducting state. Other types of heat switches are presented, including methods for controlling a flow of heat between thermal stages of a cryostat.

An integrated circuit thermal management system includes an enclosure, a heat exchanger, an integrated circuit, a slide having a moveable slide body, an electromagnetic coil, a magneto caloric material and controller circuitry. The heat exchanger is positioned on a first side of the enclosure, and the integrated circuit is positioned on a second side of the enclosure with a temperature sensor configured to generate a temperature signal indicative of a temperature of the integrated circuit. The slide is disposed in the enclosure extending between the heat exchanger and the integrated circuit. The electromagnetic coil and the magnetocaloric material are included on the slide body. The controller is configured to control energization of the magnetic coil and movement of the magnetocaloric material on the slide body between the heat exchanger and the integrated circuit based on the temperature signal.

An apparatus includes a method for providing a Shape Memory Polymer Based Passive Thermal Diode (SMP-PTD) that includes layers and is configured to provide passive heating and cooling of a pipeline. The SMP-PTD includes a polyurethane (PU) layer configured to contact at least an upper portion along a length of a pipe. The SMP-PTD further includes a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layer configured to surround the PU layer and the length of the pipe. The SMP-PTD further includes a graphene layer configured to surround an upper side of the SMP-PTD and cross layers of the SMP-PTD toward a bottom side of the SMP-PTD to establish contact with the pipe. The SMP-PTD further includes an epoxy shell configured to surround the graphene layer. The SMP-PTD further includes a shape memory polymer (SMP) ring configured to provide vertical displacement and push upward upon lateral displacement from pushing by left and right PET blocks. The SMP-PTD is installed on the pipeline.

Various aspects as described herein are directed to a radiative cooling device and method for cooling an object. As consistent with one or more embodiments, a radiative cooling device includes a solar spectrum reflecting structure configured and arranged to suppress light modes, and a thermally-emissive structure configured and arranged to facilitate thermally-generated electromagnetic emissions from the object and in mid-infrared (IR) wavelengths.

A pump cooling system may include a cooling body configured to be fitted to a pump housing to receive heat from the pump housing via a heat conducting path between the cooling body and pump housing. The cooling body may have a passage through which, in use, a cooling fluid is passed to conduct heat away from the cooling body. The pump cooling system includes a cooling control mechanism configured to provide a gap in the heat conducting path at pump operating temperatures below a predefined temperature so heat conduction from the pump housing to the cooling body is interrupted.

A heat transfer device is disclosed having a housing including a first main wall and a second main wall, the housing having a sealed internal cavity, a liquid contained in the internal cavity, and a mixer able to set the liquid in motion, the heat transfer device being able to be switched between a first state and a second state in which the liquid is in motion and transfers heat by convection between the first main wall and the second main wall, the thermal conductance between the first main wall and the second main wall in the first state being four times less than the thermal conductance between the first main wall and the second main wall in the second state.

Passively deployable thermal management devices, systems, and methods are provided in accordance with various embodiments. For example, some embodiments include a passively deployable radiator device that may include: one or more thermally conductive layers; and/or one or more strain energy components configured to deploy passively the one or more thermally conductive layers. The one or more thermally conductive layers may include one or more carbon layers. The one or more carbon layers may include at least one or more graphite layers or one or more graphene layers. At least the one or more graphite layers or the one or more graphene layers include at least one or more pyrolytic graphite sheets or one or more pyrolytic graphene sheets.

A substrate of which at least an upper surface is formed of an insulating material, an N-type semiconductor layer, a P-type semiconductor layer, and an insulator layer are provided, one semiconductor layer of the N-type semiconductor layer and the P-type semiconductor layer is formed on the substrate, the insulator layer is formed on the one semiconductor layer, and the other semiconductor layer of the N-type semiconductor layer and the P-type semiconductor layer is formed on the insulator layer. In this way, since electric charges induced by an external voltage are generated both at and near an interface between the N-type semiconductor layer and the insulator layer and at and near an interface between the P-type semiconductor layer and the insulator layer, an amount of the generated charge increases, and thus a larger variation in thermal conductivity and high thermal responsiveness can be obtained.

A thermal management system for transferring heat to and from a heat source. The system includes a thermal conductor thermally coupled to the heat source, a pressure dependent thermal conductance element thermally coupled to the conductor, and a heat sink thermally coupled to or thermally separable from the thermal conductance element. An actuator is configured relative to the thermal conductor, the thermal conductance element and the heat sink that controls the compression of the thermal conductance element between the thermal conductor and the heat sink so as to control the transfer of heat therebetween. The thermal conductance element can be compressible TIM element, such as a nanowire array, carbon nanotube forest, polymeric gasket, etc.