Cooling a processor chip

[sophiecentaur]

I have been idly browsing what Apple have to offer with their new iPhone17. There is mention of 'Vapour cooling' to deal with the heat generated. Would that be the same sort of idea that was used in 'Heat Pipes' where water evaporated at the processor end and liquid water was returned from the cool end and back along a wick.

At the extreme high power end, Vapour Phase Cooling has been used in multi-kW RF transmitters where (pure) water was pumped to the Anode / or alternative Collector and the vapour passed through a cooling matrix.

The idea of that going on in my pocket is strangely exciting. But so many other features are pretty impressive. But I do wish the iPhone processor could be slowed down to avoid my leg getting burned when the phone is thinking too hard. 'Won't change, rather than' can't change, I suspect.

 

[256bits]

same sort of idea that was used in 'Heat Pipes

I would think so,
The case is the cool heat radiator.

 

[Baluncore]

If the fluid is pure water, then the capillaries that wick the liquid water back to the hot end, will need to survive ice wedging when freezing, and the enclosure will also need to be chemically non-reactive with water. In heat pipes that are exposed to freezing conditions, propylene glycol, or a simple alcohol, is added to water as an antifreeze.

 

[sophiecentaur]

@Baluncore I’m not sure about the electrical insulation of a mixture with antifreeze. Vapour phase cooling in a big transmitter would probably not suffer from icing. Two cooling loops would solve the problem.
It looks like some heat pipe systems may use non-pure water (if other factors don’t arise).

Do you have any knowledge regarding my iPhone query?

 

[FactChecker]

Does the iPhone 17 processor really get that hot? There are liquid coolers for desktop PC processors. I don't know the details of how they work. This recent test might interest you.