Claims
- 1. An attitude independent evaporative cooling system for maintaining electronic components of an airborne radar system, to which the cooling system is thermally coupled, below a predetermined maximum operating temperature comprising;
- (a) means containing water coolant in intimate heat transfer relationship with the electronic components, which means is sealed to passage of water by a porous membrane which permits steam to pass through the membrane;
- (b) a solid steam manifold coupled to the water containing means by the porous membrane;
- (c) a normally closed pressure relief means included in the manifold whereby steam formed by evaporative heating of the water passes through the porous membrane to the steam manifold, and opens the pressure relief means at a predetermined pressure value corresponding to a water temperature at the predetermined maximum operating temperature permitting release of steam from the manifold and lowering the steam pressure in the manifold.
- 2. The attitude independent evaporative cooling system set forth in claim 1, wherein the water containing means includes a thermally conductive heat transfer member in intimate heat transfer contact with the electronic components.
- 3. The attitude independent evaporative cooling system set forth in claim 1, wherein the electronic components comprise an array of transmit-receive modules of a phased array radar system.
- 4. The cooling system set forth in claim 1, wherein the normally closed pressure relief means is spring loaded to open when the steam pressure in the manifold corresponds to a predetermined saturation temperature for water which defines the desired maximum operating temperature for the electronic components.
- 5. The cooling system set forth in claim 1, wherein the system is adapted for use in a space environment with the quantity of water selected to determine a desired operating time at the predetermined maximum operating temperature.
- 6. The cooling system set forth in claim 1, wherein the water containing means comprises a plurality of symmetrically spaced ducts which are connected to a peripheral manifold.
- 7. The cooling system set forth in claim 1, wherein the porous membrane is a hydrophobic medium.
- 8. The cooling system set forth in claim 7, wherein the porous membrane has a pore size of approximately 0.2 microns.
- 9. The cooling system set forth in claim 1, wherein the volume of the means for containing the water includes sufficient volume to accommodate the expanded volume of ice formed by freezing of the water coolant.
- 10. The cooling system set forth in claim 1, wherein selected corrosion inhibitors are added to the water.
GOVERNMENT CONTRACT
The invention herein described was made in the course of or under a contract or subcontract with the Department of the Air Force.
US Referenced Citations (9)