Heat exchanger components fabricated with 3-D printing and analyzed with neutron imaging create a world of opportunities for electronic devices, refrigerators and potentially high-performance engines. These tiny devices, used to cool electronics, could potentially be scaled up to work in heating and cooling systems. “The idea is that future micro-channel heat exchangers would be smaller, cheaper and would require less refrigerant, which has global warming implications,” Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Patrick Geoghegan said. “Electronics would operate more efficiently under these improved cooling conditions.” Geoghegan used ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor to visualize the flow structure within these world’s smallest 3-D printed micro-channel devices, which enabled him to explore the limits of this manufacturing approach.
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