Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
H2020Staff exchange2017–2023

ThermaSMART · Smart thermal management of high-power microprocessors using phase-change

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2017-12-01 → 2023-09-30
EU contribution
€1,723,500
Participants
21
Scheme
MSCA-RISE

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Smart thermal management of high-power microprocessors using phase-change

Developments in modern high-speed microprocessors enhance communication, computing and electronics, play a profound role in our societies and industries. Increased use of supercomputers, power devices, electric vehicles, photovoltaics, avionics and radar devices operating at high power densities have brought about a dramatic demand for thermal management. Sustaining long-term high speeds and reliable operation requires efficient heat dissipation. Conventional air cooling is highly inefficient with only around fraction of the air injected contributing towards cooling. Phase-change based cooling offers a promising alternative to conventional air cooling in both earth and space environments, given high phase-change heat transfer coefficients. ThermaSMART programme achieved this by building new collaborations of top researchers from 17 world-class universities across 5 continents, and 4 European SMEs with expertise in precision experiments, micro-fabrication, theoretical modelling, numerical simulation and engineering design. This collaboration enabled knowledge transfer and access to unique international facilities at Maryland, Stanford, Rio de Janeiro, Dalian, Tianjin, Bangalore, Toronto, Kyushu, Kobe and Pretoria complementing EU know-how based at Edinburgh, Nottingham, Paris, Warsaw and Dublin. The project trained over 40 early stage researchers in latest experimental and modelling techniques. The research programme also addressed key fundamental and practical questions hitherto unstudied, including contact line interactions amongst evaporating bubbles or droplet populations on patterned substrates. Knowledge was transferred through planned secondments and exposure of secondees to different research environments, regular meetings, technical workshops and training schools. This will consolidate the EU’s position at the forefront of cutting-edge research and technology in this area of cooling and will promote long lasting collaboration between Academia and Industry.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Developments in modern high-speed microprocessors enhance communication, computing and electronics, thereby playing a profound role in our societies and industries. Sustaining long-term high speeds and reliable operation requires efficient heat dissipation. Phase-change based cooling offers a promising alternative to conventional air-cooling in both earth and space environments. We will build on our previous FP7 IRSES THERMAPOWER project which led to major advancements in the fundamental understanding of phase change phenomena. As a result of this early work one researcher won an international prize and secured a fellowship at MIT following the discovery of azimuthal currents in evaporating drops. We aim to achieve this through the expansion of our network, building new collaborations of top researchers from 15 world-class universities from EU, Asia, Africa, North America and South America, and 3 European SMEs with expertise in precision experiments, micro-fabrication, theoretical modelling, numerical simulation and engineering design. This collaboration will enable knowledge transfer and access to unique facilities at NASA, Intel, Brazilian Furnas, Hitachi, IBM, Indian TIFR, Toronto SIE Lab, Tianjin Key Lab and Pretoria Thermofluid Lab, training 43 early stage researchers in latest experimental and modelling techniques. The research programme planned addresses key questions in complexities of scale hitherto unstudied, including contact line interactions amongst evaporating bubbles or droplet populations on patterned substrates. The expertise will be transferred through the planned secondments and exposure of all secondees to different research environments. Besides regular meetings and technical workshops, we will hold training schools at Maryland, Kyushu, Toronto, Warsaw and Edinburgh. This will consolidate the EU’s position at the forefront of cutting-edge research in this area and will promote a long lasting collaboration between Academia and Industry.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH · EdinburghCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
  • BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY · STANFORDUnited States
  • CERVOS LIMITED · NavanIreland
  • CHERRY BIOTECH · MONTREUILFrance
  • DALIAN MARITIME UNIVERSITY · DALIANChina
  • ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE PARIS-SACLAY · Gif-Sur-YvetteFrance
  • ELVESYS · PARISFrance
  • FACULDADES CATOLICAS ASSOCIACAO SEM FINS LUCRATIVOS · Rio de JaneiroBrazil
  • FLOW CAPTURE AS · SkedsmokorsetNorway
  • INSTYTUT FIZYKI POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK · WarszawaPoland
  • KOKURITSU DAIGAKU HOJIN KOBE DAIGAKU · KOBEJapan
  • KOKURITSU DAIGAKU HOJIN KYUSHU DAIGAKU · FukuokaJapan
  • TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH*TIFR · 400005India
  • THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM · NottinghamUnited Kingdom
  • TIANJIN UNIVERSITY OF COMMERCE · TIANJINChina
  • UNIVERSIDADE DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO · RIO DE JANEIROBrazil
  • UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO DE JANEIRO · RIO DE JANEIROBrazil
  • UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, DUBLIN · DublinIreland
  • UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA · PretoriaSouth Africa
  • University System of Maryland · AdelphiUnited States
  • YORK UNIVERSITY · TorontoCanada

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union