Conference article

Due to the increased power consumptions in equipment; the demand of effective cooling methods becomes crucial. Because of the small scale spherical pores; graphite foam has huge specific surface area. Furthermore; the thermal conductivity of graphite foam is four times that of copper. The density of graphite foam is only 20 % of that of aluminum. Thus; the graphite foam is considered as a novel highly - conductive porous material for high power equipment cooling applications. However; in the commercial market; aluminum and copper are still the preferred materials for thermal management nowadays. In order to promote the graphite foam as a thermal material for heat exchangers; an overall understanding of the graphite foam is needed. This paper describes the structure of the graphite foam. Based on the special structure; the thermal properties and the flowing characteristics of graphite foam are outlined and discussed. Furthermore; the application of graphite foam as a thermal material for heat exchangers is highlighted for electronic packages and vehicle cooling systems. The physical problems and other aspects; which might block the development of graphite foam heat exchangers; are pointed out. Finally; several useful conclusions and suggestions are given to promote the development of graphite foam heat exchangers.

Graphite foam; heat exchanger; thermal management