The jet engine started out as cooling, but it could be a laptop cooler
Thanks to GE's new dual cooling nozzle, laptops and tablets can be made smaller, quieter and longer lasting.
The cooling fan is the thickest, noisiest, but indispensable part of laptops. Computers use it to get rid of the heat generated by high-performance processors, otherwise their brains would drain quickly.
Researchers have recently developed a tiny, two-stacked credit card-thin device that is capable of this task, in addition to saving space, reducing noise, and increasing laptop battery life by about 30 percent.
A small structure called a dual cooling nozzle is not a laboratory toy. GE has licensed the technology to Aavid Thermalloy, a market leader in heat absorption and cooling systems.
Thanks to this technology, our customers can develop and market innovative, high-performance electronic products that they would not otherwise be able to think about. Said Norm Soucy, vice president and general manager of Aavid Thermalloy.
The new chiller, which acts as a blower, has no moving parts. During the operation of the structure, it draws in and blows out air at high speed under the action of an alternating current passing through a special ceramic attached to the sides of the two nickel dowels, leaving a narrow space between them. As a result of the piezoelectric phenomenon caused by the electric current, the ceramic pieces expand and contract. Due to the vibration, the gap between the blades displaces air jets.
GE engineers originally developed the device to cool jet aircraft engines and reduce turbulence along the wings of the aircraft.
