Curious how they work. Why do they look like lots of layers of fins.
In: 6
It’s a type of heat exchanger. It’s made of something thermally conductive (you see aluminium pretty often) which absorbs heat from what you’re trying to cool, by conduction.
Then, the heat is transferred via convection to whatever fluid you’re using. Often you’ll see air used with a fan forcing it over the fins, but you can also use a liquid to do the same.
Energy moves from areas of high concentration to low. The fins greatly increase the surface area. More surface area allows greater thermal transfer. Fluid zig-zags back and forth through a radiator. The heat in the fluid is transfer to the surface area of the fins in the radiator.
It’s a type of heat exchanger. It’s made of something thermally conductive (you see aluminium pretty often) which absorbs heat from what you’re trying to cool, by conduction.
Then, the heat is transferred via convection to whatever fluid you’re using. Often you’ll see air used with a fan forcing it over the fins, but you can also use a liquid to do the same.
It’s a type of heat exchanger. It’s made of something thermally conductive (you see aluminium pretty often) which absorbs heat from what you’re trying to cool, by conduction.
Then, the heat is transferred via convection to whatever fluid you’re using. Often you’ll see air used with a fan forcing it over the fins, but you can also use a liquid to do the same.
Edit: I was thinking of heat pumps not heat sinks
Ever felt the hot air coming out the exhaust on your fridge? But the inside stays ice cold?
Same principle just in reverse. Air gets separated into cold and hot but the hot air gets pumped into your home.
Energy moves from areas of high concentration to low. The fins greatly increase the surface area. More surface area allows greater thermal transfer. Fluid zig-zags back and forth through a radiator. The heat in the fluid is transfer to the surface area of the fins in the radiator.
Energy moves from areas of high concentration to low. The fins greatly increase the surface area. More surface area allows greater thermal transfer. Fluid zig-zags back and forth through a radiator. The heat in the fluid is transfer to the surface area of the fins in the radiator.
Edit: I was thinking of heat pumps not heat sinks
Ever felt the hot air coming out the exhaust on your fridge? But the inside stays ice cold?
Same principle just in reverse. Air gets separated into cold and hot but the hot air gets pumped into your home.
Edit: I was thinking of heat pumps not heat sinks
Ever felt the hot air coming out the exhaust on your fridge? But the inside stays ice cold?
Same principle just in reverse. Air gets separated into cold and hot but the hot air gets pumped into your home.
A metal material that conducts heat very well is placed on the *Thing* that needs cooling. The material looks like a solid panel with multiple “fins” on top.
The heat travels through the panel and up into the fins making the whole thing around the same temperature. A fan blows on the fins, which cools them down via convection, and that temperature reduction travels back through the panel, which cools the *Thing* via conduction.
Alternatively, water, or some other liquid, can be used in place of a fan to cool the fins. Moving liquid utilizes conduction, which is much quicker than convection at transferring heat.
Basically, you’re moving some heat to the outside of the *Thing* so that it can be cooled down, which transfers some cooling back to the *Thing*.
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