JP2004319658A - Electronic cooler - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cool an article requiring a large capacity of cooling in a relatively limited time band with small power consumption using a small facility. <P>SOLUTION: Heat generated from an article being cooled while having a high peak value is stored by utilizing the variation of a phase varying material (PCM) 12 from a solid phase to a liquid phase. The phase varying material 12 is forcibly returned back to the solid phase by means of a thermo-module 22, a heat dissipating side heat sink 24 and a cooling fan 26. Consequently, heat generated with a high peak can be absorbed and cooled without requiring large power consumption at the time of a peak. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to, for example, an electronic cooling device suitable for cooling an object to be cooled, such as a control panel that generates a large amount of heat, particularly a control panel in which a heating peak occurs in a relatively limited time. It is.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Generally, in order to perform large-capacity cooling, a compressor-type cooling device using a refrigerant compressor is used. The cooling device comprises a cooling circuit containing a refrigerant (liquid or gas) for cooling the cooled object. The cooling circuit includes a heat-absorbing heat exchanger that absorbs heat from the cooled object and heats the refrigerant. And a compressor for compressing the compressed refrigerant, and heat radiated when the compressor is compressed is radiated by the radiating heat exchanger.
[0003]
This compressor-type cooling device is suitable for large-capacity cooling because it can absorb large-capacity heat from the object to be cooled, but requires a refrigerant pipe for circulating refrigerant and a large-sized compressor. There was a drawback that the equipment became large.
[0004]
In general, an object to be cooled such as a control panel does not always generate the same amount of heat, but reaches a peak of heat generation in a few hours during the day and requires cooling only during this time. At other times, cooling is not required.
[0005]
However, a compressor-type cooling device is required to have a capacity necessary to absorb the amount of heat generated during the peak period of heat generation. There was a disadvantage.
[0006]
On the other hand, a cooling device having a so-called thermo module is generally used as a suitable cooling device for cooling a small capacity of an electronic component or the like. Since this cooling device is composed of a small Peltier effect element (thermo module), fins and a fan, the size of the cooling device can be reduced as a whole, but the cooling device has a high heat peak even in a short time. It is not possible to obtain sufficient cooling capacity to cool the cooling body.
[0007]
Recently, heat sinks containing a phase change material that stores heat of electronic components such as CPUs have been proposed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). In these heat sinks, an electronic component to be cooled is embedded in the inside (see Patent Literature 1), or attached to the electronic component while maintaining a heat conduction relationship with the electronic component (see Patent Literature 2).
[0008]
However, these heat sinks store heat generated by the electronic components in the phase change material and naturally radiate the heat from the heat radiating portion of the heat sink, so that these heat sinks are suitable for electronic components having a relatively small calorific value. Cannot be applied to large capacity cooling.
[0009]
[Patent Document 1]
US Patent No. 4,446,916
[Patent Document 2]
JP, 2002-57262, A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an electronic cooling device that can cool a cooled object that requires a large amount of cooling in a relatively limited time zone without increasing the size of the equipment. is there.
[0012]
Another problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an electronic cooling device capable of cooling a cooled object requiring a large capacity cooling with a small capacity cooler in a relatively limited time zone. It is in.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Means for solving the problems of the present invention are a heat storage means made of a phase change material, a heat absorption side heat exchange means provided on a heat absorption side of the heat storage means and transmitting heat from a cooled object to the heat storage means, and a heat radiation of the heat storage means. A heat radiation means for dissipating heat from the heat storage means, the heat radiation means comprising a thermo module, a heat sink, and a cooling fan. It is to provide a device.
[0014]
The phase change material of the heat storage means may comprise a substance that changes phase between solid, gel and liquid, and the heat storage means may comprise a thermally conductive container containing the substance.
[0015]
The thermo module is attached to the heat conductive container of the heat storage means, the heat radiation side heat sink is attached to the thermo module, and the cooling fan blows cooling air to the heat radiation side heat sink or sucks cooling air from the heat radiation side heat sink. It is preferred to be located at
[0016]
The heat-absorbing heat exchange means may include a heat-absorbing heat sink and a heat-absorbing fan. The heat-absorbing heat sink is provided in the heat conductive container of the heat storage means, and the heat-absorbing fan draws heat from the cooled body and blows heated air to the heat absorbing fins, or sucks cooling air from the heat-absorbed heat sink to cool the cooled body. It is preferably arranged so as to be sprayed.
[0017]
As described above, when a large amount of heat is stored using the phase change of the phase change material (PCM), even if a high heat peak is generated in a short time period, the peak heat can be reliably absorbed. Since the phase change material is forcibly returned to the original phase by the thermo module, large capacity cooling can be performed without requiring large-scale equipment such as a compressor or a refrigerant line and large power consumption.
[0018]
In addition, the phase change of the phase change material is promoted by the combination of the phase change material and the thermo module, and the large heat storage for a short time and the forced heat dissipation of the heat storage. Therefore, the large capacity cooling is performed by using a small capacity electronic cooler. be able to.
[0019]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 shows an electronic cooling device 10 according to the present invention, the electronic cooling device 10 comprising a heat storage means made of a phase change material (PCM) 12. 14, a heat-absorbing-side heat exchange means 16 provided on the heat-absorbing side of the heat-storing means 14 and transmitting heat from the object to be cooled to the heat-storing means 14; A heat-dissipation-side heat exchange means for dissipating heat.
[0020]
The phase change material 12 of the heat storage means 14 is composed of a component that dissipates or absorbs heat and changes phase between a solid, a gel, and a liquid, and as this component, the phase change temperature is relatively stable. A component that changes into a liquid phase at 20 ° C to 60 ° C, such as paraffin (melting point 28.2 to 44 ° C), calcium chloride hydrate (melting point 29.7 ° C), sodium sulfate hydrate (melting point 32.4) ° C), sodium thiosulfate hydrate (melting point 48 ° C), sodium acetate hydrate (melting point 58 ° C) and the like, which are appropriately selected from these components according to the heat retention temperature of the object to be cooled. . For the purpose of finely adjusting the melting points of these components, an appropriate regulator can be added to these components.
[0021]
The heat storage means 14 is composed of a heat conductive container 20 made of, for example, aluminum or the like which stores the phase change material 12. Since the volume of the phase change material 12 changes according to the phase change, the container 20 has an internal capacity set so that the container 20 does not break at the maximum volume.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 1, the heat radiation side heat exchange means 18 includes a thermo module 22 composed of a Peltier effect element, a heat radiation side heat sink 24, and a cooling fan 26.
[0023]
The heat absorption surface of the thermo module 22 is directly attached to the heat conductive container 20 of the heat storage means 14, the heat radiation side heat sink 24 is attached to the heat radiation surface of the thermo module 22, and the cooling fan 26 blows cooling air to the heat sink 24. The cooling air is drawn from the heat sink 24.
[0024]
In the illustrated embodiment, the heat radiation side heat sink 24 is composed of a heat radiation plate 24A attached to the heat radiation surface of the thermo module 22 and a number of fins 24B extending perpendicularly from the heat radiation plate 24A. Although arranged in parallel, the arrangement of the fins 24B is appropriately set.
[0025]
In the illustrated embodiment, the heat radiating fan 26 is formed of a flat fan that blows cooling air to almost the entire surface of the heat radiating side heat sink 24 or sucks cooling air from substantially the entire surface of the heat radiating side heat sink 24. If there is an air guiding means capable of guiding cooling air from the cooling air outlet or suction port of the cooling air may be small.
[0026]
The heat absorption side heat exchange means 16 includes a heat absorption side heat sink 28 and a heat absorption fan 30. In the illustrated embodiment, the heat sink side heat sink 28 is composed of a number of fins 28A integrally formed so as to extend vertically from the wall of the container 20 of the heat storage means 14, and these fins 28A Like the fins 24B, they are arranged in parallel with each other, but similarly, the arrangement of the fins 28A is appropriately set.
[0027]
In the illustrated embodiment, the heat-absorbing fan 30 is formed of a flat fan that blows suction air over substantially the entire heat-absorbing heat sink 28 or sucks air from substantially the entire surface of the heat-absorbing heat sink 28, similarly to the cooling fan 26. Then, the suction port or the discharge port of the suction air may be small as long as there is an air guiding means capable of guiding the suction air to the entire surface of the heat sink 28 or from the entire surface.
[0028]
As shown in FIG. 2, a heat-dissipation-side control means 32 and a heat-sink-side control means 34 for controlling the operation of the heat-dissipation-side heat exchange means 16 and the heat-absorption-side heat exchange means 18 are provided.
[0029]
The heat-absorbing-side control means 34 appropriately operates the heat-absorbing fan 30 of the heat-absorbing-side heat exchange means 16 in response to a command to cool the object to be cooled. For example, it is a large control panel in which the object to be cooled is installed outdoors. Then, the operation of the heat absorbing fan 30 is stopped or operated at a low speed in a time period where the calorific value is relatively low, such as at night, and the heat absorbing fan 30 is operated in a time period in which heat enters from outside such as in the daytime in summer. Is controlled to operate at a high speed, and the heat absorbing fan 30 is controlled to stop when the calorific value is relatively low, such as in winter.
[0030]
The heat radiation side control means 36 operates the thermo module 22 and the cooling fan 26 continuously to dissipate heat from the phase change material 12 of the heat storage means 14 in summer or according to the heat storage amount of the phase change material 12 of the heat storage means 14. When the heat storage amount of the phase change material 12 is low as in winter, the operation of the thermo module 22 and the cooling fan 26 is stopped or the intermittent operation is performed according to the heat storage amount of the phase change material. Can be controlled.
[0031]
Next, the usage state of the electronic cooling device 10 of the present invention will be described. For example, the electronic cooling device 10 of the present invention is mounted so as to surround a large control panel installed outdoors so as to cool the control panel. In this case, the electronic cooling device 10 is arranged such that the heat absorption side heat exchange means 16 is located inside the hood and the heat radiation side heat exchange means 18 is located outside the hood. You.
[0032]
This control panel generates 100 W of heat during normal continuous operation, but if 400 W of heat enters from outside during a peak of about 3 hours during the daytime in summer, the cooling capacity required during the peak is 500 W. .
[0033]
The electronic cooling device 10 of the present invention stops the heat absorbing fan 30 or operates continuously or intermittently at a low speed except at the peak of the summer season by the heat absorbing side control means 34. And heat is stored in the heat storage means 14. The heat storage means 14 converts the phase change material 14 from a solid phase to a liquid phase via a gel, and absorbs and accumulates heat from the control panel with the phase change.
[0034]
On the other hand, the heat radiation side control means 32 continuously operates the thermo module 22 and the heat radiation fan 26 until the phase change material 12 of the heat storage means 14 returns from the liquid phase to the solid phase in summer.
[0035]
At night, not only in winter, but also in summer, there is almost no need to cool with the amount of heat leaked from the hood, so the heat absorption side heat exchange means 34 stops, and the heat radiation side heat exchange means 32 uses the phase change material 12 of the heat storage means 14. Stop after returning to the solid phase.
[0036]
In order to cool the control panel, a cooling capacity of 500 W is required, so that a normal cooling device needs to have a cooling capacity corresponding to this cooling capacity. It is sufficient to dissipate the heat in the peak power of 500 W × 3 hours = 1500 watt-hours over 24 hours, so that a cooling capacity of 62.5 W is sufficient, and therefore the necessary cooling at the peak power of 500 W is performed by the electronically cooled thermo module 22. Understand that you can do it.
[0037]
In addition, the conventional cooling device consumes a large amount of electric power temporarily, which overlaps with the power consumption of other devices such as an air conditioner. However, the electronic cooling device of the present invention has a peak power consumption at a peak time. It turns out that it has the function of reducing the value.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, as described above, a large amount of heat is stored by utilizing the phase change of the phase change material (PCM). Therefore, even if a high heat peak is generated in a short time period, this peak heat can be reliably obtained. The phase change material is forcibly returned to the solid phase by the thermo module, so it can be cooled to a large capacity without requiring large equipment such as a compressor or a refrigerant line and large power consumption. be able to.
[0039]
In addition, the phase change of the phase change material is promoted by the combination of the phase change material and the thermo module, and the large heat storage for a short time and the forced heat release of this heat storage. There are benefits that can be done.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an electronic cooling device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a system diagram of a control system of the electronic cooling device of FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Electronic cooling device 12 Phase change material (PCM)
14 heat storage means 16 heat absorption side heat exchange means 18 heat radiation side heat exchange means 20 heat conductive container 22 thermo module 24 heat radiation side heat sink 24A heat radiation plate 24B fin 26 cooling fan 28 heat absorption side heat sink 28A fin 30 heat absorption fan 32 heat radiation side control means 34 Endothermic control means

Claims (5)

A heat storage means made of a phase change material, a heat absorption side heat exchange means provided on a heat absorption side of the heat storage means and transmitting heat from a cooled body to the heat storage means, and a heat storage means provided on a heat radiation side of the heat storage means. An electronic cooling device, comprising: a heat-dissipation-side heat exchange means for dissipating heat from the heat storage means, wherein the heat-dissipation-side heat exchange means comprises a thermo module, a heat-dissipation heat sink, and a cooling fan. 2. The electronic cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the phase change material of the heat storage unit is made of a substance that changes phase between a solid, a gel, and a liquid, and the heat storage unit stores the phase change material. An electronic cooling device comprising a heat conductive container to be stored. 3. The electronic cooling device according to claim 2, wherein the thermo module is mounted on a heat conductive container of the heat storage unit, the heat radiating side heat sink is mounted on the thermo module, and the cooling fan is mounted on the heat radiating unit. 4. An electronic cooling device characterized by being arranged to blow cooling air to a side heat sink or to suck cooling air from the heat sink. 4. The electronic cooling device according to claim 1, wherein said heat-absorbing-side heat exchange means comprises a heat-absorbing heat sink and a heat-absorbing fan. 5. The electronic cooling device according to claim 4, wherein the heat sink side heat sink is provided in a heat conductive container of the heat storage unit, and the heat sink fan sucks heat from the cooled object to thereby form the heat sink side. An electronic cooling device, which is arranged so as to blow heated air to a heat sink or to suck cooling air from the heat sink on the heat absorbing side.

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