Solid state fan aka the Frore Systems revolutionary active cooling chip AirJet® - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: vanarebane
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2023, 02:47:17 pm
content: Hi! As I'm very into efficiently and silently cooling a very power hungry PC (and I like slim powerful devices), I got excited about this new solid state fan, that uses Mems technology to generate quite high air pressure and force air trough slim radiator stack.Specs for cooling Steam Deck:Total heat dissipation (@ 85C die temperature, 25C ambient) 10.5 W (net 8.75 W)Maximum noise inside device at 50 cm24 dBAMaximum power consumption 1.75WSame fan on the Steam Deck is rated for 2.5WPDF: Case study of (my favourite handheld gaming device), Steam Deck with their solid state fans imagined inside it (witth specs)bflow.com/6387c57559192a648478384e/638890508d40e46adeeb3228_AirJet%20Hand%20Held%20Gaming%20Case%20Study.pdf]PDF: Case study of (my favourite handheld gaming device), Steam Deck with their solid state fans imagined inside it (witth specs)[ufanyoutube.com/watch?v=YGxTnGEAx3E]YouTube: Pretty good overview interview from CESPosting here to see what others think about this product, are you excited or sceptical?

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2023, 03:19:58 pm
content: It seems to have the support of Intel and other entities.https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/01/frore-secures-100m-collabs-with-intel-to-create-a-new-way-to-cool-processors/

author: JohanH
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2023, 02:32:12 pm
content: I saw this in youtube today. First impression is that this sounds very exciting. I really hope it's true that they have Intel and other manufacturers onboard. Something like this has been needed for a long time. Fans are really annoying in many places.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2023, 03:12:19 pm
content: So presumably this is peristaltic?It's hard to see how the pulsating pressure won't create significant losses, I think this will have to make up for lower efficiency at producing airflow by forcing more turbulent airflow through the fins/pins. Waterblocks can get huge gains through higher turbulence, so I can see that working.PS. that patent is nondescript to the point I think it should be thrown out, give me a proper preferred embodiment or GTFO. Modern patents are such useless trash.PPS. oh that's not a Frore patent at all, the article lied to me.Thisis one of the patents assigned to Frore, interesting that it was actually applied by a German manufacturer of industrial equipment though. Bit weird given the inventor names, I expect all the Indian names more at an US startup than a German manufacturer.

author: itchy
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 21, 2023, 12:28:36 pm
content: Just saw this on YT. I think it looks quite cool and could be a solution for small notebooks or gaming smartphones in the near future. What I am wondering about is the fact that normal fans also move a lot of air. Is this not an important parameter for cooling? Asking people with knowledge about fluid simulation.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2023, 12:45:17 pm
content: In theory you can compensate for lower flow by increasing the exhaust air temperature, by reducing the difference in temperature between the exhaust air and the heat spreader.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2023, 08:01:01 am
content: Quote from: itchy on January 21, 2023, 12:28:36 pmits like microchannels, you compare performance of microchannels @ airflow vs planar surface @ airflow, i think

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2023, 10:25:38 am
content: The liquid cooling PC lot use turbulence to get better thermal transfer efficiency in their CPU water blocks. From what I understand, if your fluid flow is too smooth it can lead to a layer of trapped fluid next to the surfaces of the water block channels, which then acts as an insulator. Controlled turbulence scours this layer away.I suppose if you make the channels small enough, you could mitigate that effect somewhat.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2023, 09:56:47 pm
content: its not peristaltic, at least not in a conventional sense, it says its ultrasonic. Its a convenient way to force fluid into micro channels I believe without a high pressure pump. At least that is what I understand. You over come the problem of microchannels having high static pressure by using a distributed pump over I guess a single microchannel or channel that has equivilant thermal transfer due to extreme turbulance of the jet reflection/refraction. Or at least the thermal transfer is more like microchannel thermal transfer then bulk thermal transfer.I believe I noticed objects cooling unusually fast if you hit them with a air compressor, maybe its turbulant cooling (i.e. braze a small thing and put it 1mm away from a 100psi compressor). I never thought it was a specific effect but I also never bothered to try to solve the conventional thermal equation for that flow/speed).

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2023, 10:54:40 pm
content: That looks cool, but the video is just a guy talking about the technology - without going into great details either. He could at least have shown demos of their products. There was no demo, no board actually using one of their cooling products in sight.First thing I would do if I had developed such a thing would be to showcase it with demos. Then again, I don't know how to get millions from Intel, so ignore my comment.

author: DavidKo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2023, 11:28:29 am
content: Patented technology - no concurrence, high price. Development support does not mean anything, it can be few bucks. The biggest step is industrialization.How quickly the cooler get clogged with dust? The biggest issue in air cooling and there it will be even more visible, since the intake is very small and the air flow is high. If the dust can get inside, I expect that it will work like fine abrasive and destroy the MEMS. One can say use filter -> maintenance, decrease of reliability.It is the same way solid state as the fan, it only use instead of bearings the membrane. Perfect on paper, hard to use in real world. The fans are maybe noisy (they can be quieter with optimized designs), but they are cheap. That is the also the reason why the heat pipes are used instead of water cooling - it is simple, reliable, no risk of water damage, fool proof and simple maintenance. When I remember how in 90's the PC cooling was unreliable and where it is now (never exchanged the boxed cooler, only cleaned it from dust) I do not see any mass application to come soon.