The Difference Between Heat Exchangers and Other Solutions

The nature of electrical cooling hasn’t changed dramatically over the decades. Electrical components are still housed within enclosures and require effective thermal management solutions to keep them properly cooled. Otherwise, they’ll overheat. What has changed, however, are the different methods that companies often use to address their electrical cooling needs. For example, these days, companies in most industries turn to modern heat exchangers thanks to their ability to reduce the overall costs and boost the efficiency of electrical cooling for most applications.

Using natural ways to transfer heat

Heat exchangers are cooling units that transfer electrical waste heat instead of utilizing HVAC methods to chill it. The specific way a heat exchanger accomplishes this depends on its specific design (i.e., cold plates or heat exchangers) and the application for which it’s intended. In many designs, for example, the heat exchanger uses an eco-friendly cooling fluid with a highly efficient latent heat of vaporization. This allows the heat exchanger to take advantage of phase-change cooling, during which the fluid will absorb the heat until it evaporates, making it easier to flow to a cooler area of the heat exchanger. Once it dissipates the heat, the fluid condenses back into liquid and loops back through the heat exchanger to continue the process.

Using less energy to produce greater results

The heat transfer process is the biggest difference between heat exchangers and more traditional solutions, like air conditioners. It’s the foundation for the many other benefits that heat exchangers provide, including the reduced need for energy and the simultaneous boost in overall efficiency. When a cooling fluid evaporates from heat absorption, forces such as natural/forced convection can easily transfer it with a minimal amount of energy. The use of a fluid to transfer heat also eliminates the need for large amounts of energy to generate chilled air. Because a heat exchanger’s fluid is contained within a loop, it can continue to operate consistently with little need for maintenance.

Using less space for higher-performance cooling

The heat transfer process isn’t just energy efficient, it’s also relatively simpler to contain. Transferring heat doesn’t require the complicated apparatus that chilling air does, which means high-performance heat exchangers can be designed and implemented in tighter spaces. This is vital for advancing technologies that are designed to outperform their predecessors in newer, often smaller and sleeker designs. Thanks to their advanced electrical cooling methods, heat exchangers have also been essential to the advancement of technologies such as automation, green energy initiatives, and more.

For more information about the difference between heat exchangers and other solutions, call Noren Thermal Solutions in Taylor, TX, at 866-936-6736.