Evaporator for looped heat pipe system and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

An evaporator for a looped heat pipe (LHP) system, in which a working fluid circulates to cool a heat generating electronic component that generates heat during operation, the evaporator including: a body including an inlet through which the working fluid enters and an outlet through which the working fluid is discharged; a sintered wick that is included in the body, wherein the sintered wick is formed by sintering a copper powder, and a plurality of pores are formed in the sintered wick; and an additional layer that is formed on a surface of the sintered wick, wherein the additional layer is formed by sintering copper particles having a size smaller than that of the copper powder forming the sintered wick, and the working fluid moved from the sintered wick is changed in a vapor state to be discharged.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An evaporator for a looped heat pipe (LHP) system, in which a working fluid circulates to cool a heat generating electronic component that generates heat during operation, the evaporator comprising:
 a body comprising an inlet through which the working fluid enters and an outlet through which the working fluid is discharged;   a sintered wick that is included in the body, wherein the sintered wick is formed by sintering a copper powder, and a plurality of pores are formed in the sintered wick; and   an additional layer that is formed on a surface of the sintered wick, wherein the additional layer is formed by sintering copper particles having a size smaller than that of the copper powder forming the sintered wick, and the working fluid moved from the sintered wick is changed in a vapor state to be discharged.   
     
     
         2 . The evaporator for an LHP system of  claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the additional layer is from 0.1 μm to 30 μm. 
     
     
         3 . The evaporator for an LHP system of  claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the sintered wick is from 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm. 
     
     
         4 . The evaporator for an LHP system of  claim 1 , wherein by a hot pressing method in which heat and pressure are applied to the additional layer, the additional layer is sintered and is combined with the sintered wick at the same time. 
     
     
         5 . The evaporator for an LHP system of  claim 1 , wherein the sintered wick is formed by sintering an irregular shaped micro copper powder having a size of 40 μm to 150 μm and the additional layer is formed by sintering sphere-shaped nano copper particles each having a diameter of 10 nm to 200 nm. 
     
     
         6 . A method of manufacturing an evaporator for a looped heat pipe (LHP) system, in which a working fluid circulates to cool a heat generating electronic component that generates heat during operation, the method comprising:
 forming a body comprising an inlet through which the working fluid enters and an outlet through which the working fluid is discharged;   forming a sintered wick that is included in the body, wherein the sintered wick is formed by sintering a copper powder, and a plurality of pores are formed in the sintered wick; and   forming an additional layer that is formed on a surface of the sintered wick, wherein the additional layer is formed by sintering copper particles having a size smaller than that of the copper powder forming the sintered wick, and the working fluid moved from the sintered wick is changed in a vapor state to be discharged,   wherein the forming of the additional layer comprises: forming the additional layer by sintering the copper particles and combining the copper particles with the sintered wick at the same time by using a hot pressing method in which heat and pressure are applied to the copper particles, in a state in which the copper particles are placed on the surface of the sintered wick.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein a pressure that is applied in the forming of the additional layer is from 10 Pa to 100 Pa, and a temperature during the forming of the additional layer is from 100° C. to 200° C. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein a temperature during the forming of the additional layer is from 145° C. to 155° C. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein time during which the pressure and the heat are applied in the forming of the additional layer is from 5 minutes to 15 minutes. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the thickness of the additional layer is from 0.1 μm to 30 μm, and the thickness of the sintered wick is from 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the copper powder forming the sintered wick is an irregular shaped micro copper powder having a size of 40 μm to 150 μm, and the copper particles are sphere-shaped nano copper particles each having a diameter of 10 nm to 200 nm. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the forming of the additional layer is performed under air pressure. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the forming of the sintered wick is performed for 3 to 7 hours, and the forming of the additional layer is performed for 5 to 15 minutes.