Corona Discharge Effect to Silently Cool your Processors
Processor technology is quickly progressing from the single core processors to multiple core machines. But the main question that is lurking the minds of the processor manufacturers is developing an effective way to cool these machines.
Multiple cores in a processor means more heat as a by product. This heat if increases the permissible level can completely damage the processors. Thus with the advancement of the processor technology there was an urgent need of developing some good cooling devices. Here is the list of the major cooling techniques that are used.
1) Passive Cooling:
This is one of the oldest and the simplest way to cool a processor. This is based on increasing the surface area of the processor so that there is an equal distribution of heat so that the processor can be cooled. This requires having a large chunk of aluminum or copper on top of the processor. The advantages of the setup are that the cooling is inexpensive and also noise free. The disadvantages of the setup are mainly that the whole setup is not suitable for any high end CPUs and GPUs.
2) Active Cooling:
This is also known as Air cooling and this is the most common in the machines that are currently in use. This uses a fan to push the air on to the processor. This method is used simultaneously with the Passive cooling technology. The fan pushes the air on the heat sink. The advantages are that the setup is inexpensive and can provide sufficient cooling to the single core processors. The disadvantages are that it still is not as efficient for the multi core processors. Moreover it is also not as silent as the passive cooling system.
3) Water Cooling:
Water has a higher specific heat and can be used to cool even the most heat producing components of a system. Still the main disadvantage is that the setup is very expensive and also the noise levels are high. Moreover extreme precaution has to be taken for using the setup as water and electricity are the worst enemies.
4) Phase Change:
Phase change relies on using a refrigerator liquid and some air conditioning systems. These systems are very powerful and are used by enthusiasts who have overclocked their systems.
5) Cryogenics:
This technique is useful for cooling the most heated systems. This includes the use of dry ice and liquid nitrogen for cooling the machines. Still they cannot be used permanently as the main source for cooling the systems as the immense change in the processors can damage them.
Electrostatic air propulsion and the corona discharge effect
This is the latest and the most innovative technology of all. The corona discharge effect has been known for centuries but still we had to develop a way so that they can be effectively used in PCs. The effect states that an electric discharge near a charged conductor causes ionization of the surrounding air. This has been used to good effect by Kronos.
A high electric field is generated at the tip of a cathode that has been placed at one end of the CPU and a grounded anode at the other end. The highly charged cathode ionizes the surrounding air and it causes the air to quickly move towards the anode. This result in movement of air towards the anode and this gust of wind can cool the most heated parts of the system.
Via: tfot
