Patent ID: 6957550

Claim:
A method, comprising: circulating through a flow loop a cooling fluid which includes a fluid coolant, said flow loop passing through heat-generating structure disposed in an environment having an ambient pressure, said fluid coolant having a boiling temperature in the range of 60° C. to 75° C. at at least one pressure in the range of two to eight psia; reducing a pressure of said cooling fluid at a selected location along said flow loop to a subambient pressure at which said cooling fluid has a boiling temperature less than a temperature of said heat-generating structure; bringing said cooling fluid at said subambient pressure into thermal communication with said heat-generating structure, so that said coolant boils and vaporizes to thereby absorb heat from said heat-generating structure; supplying said cooling fluid from said heat-generating structure to a device which removes heat from said coolant so as to condense substantially all of said coolant to a liquid; thereafter extracting from said flow loop a selected portion of said cooling fluid that has been cooled by said device, said selected portion being a vapor that includes a non-condensable gas; and wherein said selected portion includes some vapor of said coolant, and including: increasing a pressure of said selected portion to a selected pressure higher than said subambient pressure; supplying said selected portion at said selected pressure to a heat exchanger which removes heat from said selected portion to condense to a liquid substantially all of said vapor of said coolant which is present in said selected portion; thereafter separating said non-condensable gas of said selected portion from said liquid coolant of said selected portion; discharging to said environment said non-condensable gas separated from liquid coolant of said selected portion; and returning said liquid coolant of said selected portion to said flow loop.