Heat exchanger for cooling an electronic enclosure

A method for producing a heat exchanger for cooling an electronic enclosure, the heat exchanger having a condenser side and an evaporator side, and a heat exchanging element, the heat exchanging element being a pulsating heat pipe, the method comprising the steps of:

• producing a barrier for separating the condenser side and the evaporator side of the heat exchanger,
• forming multiple mini-channels of the heat exchanging element by extrusion, wherein channels as ports of the mini-channels are formed during extrusion of the mini-channels,
• disposing partition walls into place on the evaporator side and the condenser side within connection elements to form chambers for allowing refrigerant to reverse direction of movement,
• wherein the mini-channels are not bent into a serpentine configuration,
• wherein each mini-channel comprises multiple channels,
• wherein the mini-channels extend consistently in a straight configuration such that a first end of each mini-channel is disposed on the condenser side of the heat exchanger and that a second end of each mini-channel is disposed on the evaporator side,
• wherein the mini-channels extend through the barrier,
• wherein the heat exchanger comprises partition walls on the evaporator side and partition walls on the condenser side,
• wherein the partition walls are disposed such that chambers on the evaporator side are formed, wherein at least one end of a mini-channel extends into each chamber,
• wherein the chambers define multiple groups of mini-channels, each group comprising at least one mini-channel,
• wherein the channels of the mini-channels serve to transport the refrigerant from the evaporator side to the condenser side or from the condenser side to the evaporator side,
• wherein all of the channels of each mini-channel lie in a respective plane defined by each said mini-channel, such that no channel of any mini-channel lies in a same plane as a channel of any other of the mini-channels, and
• wherein all channels of each mini-channel transport refrigerant in the same direction.

A heat exchanger for cooling an electronic enclosure comprising:

• a condenser side and an evaporator side, wherein the condenser side and the evaporator side are separated from each other by a barrier,
• wherein the heat exchanger comprises a heat exchanging element,
• wherein the heat exchanging element is a pulsating heat pipe,
• wherein the heat exchanger comprises multiple mini-channels, said mini-channels not being bent into a serpentine configuration,
• wherein each mini-channel comprises multiple channels being configured as ports of the respective mini-channels,
• wherein the mini-channels extend consistently in a straight configuration such that a first end of each mini-channel is disposed on the condenser side of the heat exchanger and that a second end of each mini-channel is disposed on the evaporator side,
• wherein the mini-channels extend through the barrier,
• wherein the heat exchanger comprises partition walls on the evaporator side and partition walls on the condenser side,
• wherein the partition walls are disposed such that chambers on the evaporator side and chambers on the condenser side are formed,
• wherein at least one end of a mini-channel extends into each chamber,
• wherein the chambers define multiple groups of mini-channels, each group comprising more than one mini-channel,
• wherein the mini-channels of the same group extend with their first ends into the same chamber on the condenser side and with their second ends into the same chamber on the evaporator side,
• wherein by having more than one mini-channel in each group a parallel movement of refrigerant in the same direction either to the evaporator side or the condenser side is achieved,
• wherein mini-channels of neighboring different groups transport the refrigerant in opposite directions,
• wherein the channels of the mini-channels serve to transport the refrigerant from the evaporator side to the condenser side or from the condenser side to the evaporator side, and
• wherein all channels of each mini-channel lie in a respective plane defined by each said mini-channel, such that no channel of any mini-channel lies in a same plane as a channel of any other of the mini-channels, and
• wherein all channels of a respective one mini-channel transport refrigerant in the same direction.