Maybe I'm speaking from ignorance, but I don't see the issue. The high end
PC builders have been using liquid cooling for years (for fanless or
overclocked cpu's) and there's plenty of off the shelf parts and knowledge
base. It's more a case of scale. Where a PC might need to dissipate 200w
at around 50c, I assume a power tube might easily require an order of
magnitude more radiating area, but it has the advantage of being hotter
compared to ambient and a greater tolerance to higher temps. I would say
that the two main issues would be, pump fail/over temp sense, and correct
handling of water (most likely water/glycol) in a vapor state. "Yup, my PA
died when my tube vapor locked". Given the high temps a tube can run at,
it's conceivable you could design a pump-less cooling system based on
convection currents and steam.
One thing that would worry me, is in a high humidity environment, a
moderately rapid rise in ambient air temp before the unit was turned on,
could result in condensation on the outside of the tube before the coolant
was at or warmer than the local air. This could be worked around.
jim
_______________________________________________
Amps mailing list
Amps@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps
|