4 Types of Liquid Cooling Systems

Liquid cooling for electronics works in much the same way as liquid can be used to cool your car. The heat moves from warmer areas to cooler areas and as the area that was warmer cools, it moves back to it's original position. This is a basic principle of thermodynamics. It’s ideal for expensive computers where temperature is very important and it is often the case that further cooling is required than that provided by the fans found on most home computers. However, as machines become bigger and faster, it’s inevitable that liquid cooling will become more commonplace on home computers, especially as these systems improve to become smaller and more efficient.

Water Cooling

The most common form of liquid cooling is water cooling. With computers, there’s a water block within the CPU, a water pump, and a radiator with a fan attached. Until the mid 1990s, if someone wanted a water-cooled PC, the water cooling aspect had to be homemade. Both Dell and Apple have made commercial water-cooled computers in recent times.

Thermoelectric Cooling

Thermoelectric cooler or vapor-compression refrigeration uses the evaporator coil of a phase change system to chill the water below ambient air temperature. This offers much better cooling for the components in the computer that generate the most heat.

These systems are not without their problems. They requires a lot of electricity and antifreeze has to be added to the system, because the temperature is so low. It also requires insulation around the pipes that carry the water and neoprene is needed around the components that need to be cooled. Without it, there will be condensation on the surfaces that have been cooled which could cause permanent damage.

Peltier Junction

A peltier junction is seen as an alternative to standard water cooling and can be very efficient. It doesn’t require antifreeze and you don’t need to insulate the pipes. Instead, the Peltier junction, which is a thermoelectric device, is put in between the component generating the heat and the water block. This means that the area with sub-ambient temperatures is isolated and subsequently, this is the only place that has to be insulated.

This system works well but, once again, it also has some disadvantages. It requires a lot of power which has to be moved by a water cooling system and this is in addition to moving the heat generated by the actual component. Condensation around the Peltier junction is also a risk and a short-circuit could be the ultimate result. At the very least, this could shut down the computer. At worst, it could irreparably damage the machine. A peltier junction has to be installed with epoxy to prevent air entering or escaping in order to be properly installed.

External Cooling System

There are fanless liquid cooling systems for computers that use an external tank that acts as both a reservoir and a radiator. These come with an integrated water pump. The nature of the system means that it can be internally fitted so it sits beside the computer to aid cooling with a series of tubes within the CPU. The cooling is accomplished by natural convection. The installation, according to the manufacturers, is relatively simple, although it shouldn’t be undertaken by anyone who doesn’t have advanced knowledge of working with computers.