View Full Version : Liquid Nitrogen cooling question!
How long does liquid nitrogen last?
Were can I buy it, any places I can buy it online?
How much does it cost?
Any tips? :confused:
How long does liquid nitrogen last?
Not long. It boils easily when heated.
Were can I buy it, any places I can buy it online?
Welding supply, I don't think anyone would ship it to you.
How much does it cost?
Not much for the LN2, but you'll have to rent or buy a container for it.
Any tips?
It's really cold. REALLY cold. You can really hurt yourself with it. And if you're not careful, you can also suffocate, because it displaces oxygen when it boils.
In short:
Don't do it, it's not worth it, and you'll probably end up ruining a chip. And it's super-unrealistic for long-term cooling.
What about water cooling?
Any better?
And whats water wetter, were can I find it?
Thelemac
08-09-01, 09:18 PM
Originally posted by YMAN
What about water cooling?
Any better?
And whats water wetter, were can I find it?
Water cooling is much better. :)
You can get Water Wetter with the rest of your stuff over at DangerDen (http://www.dangerden.com). There is also a ton of information on the front page about watercooling.
But if you keep the container seeled (the box on the cpu) then shouldnt the evaporated nitrogen go back to liquid form?
Originally posted by Oright
But if you keep the container seeled (the box on the cpu) then shouldnt the evaporated nitrogen go back to liquid form?
Problem is, when a liquid evaporates into a gas, it expands by a couple of hundred times (PV=nRT). In a sealed container, the pressure buildup would be huge and the container would have to be built like a tank to take those pressures.
In the lab, we store N2 either in open dewars or large insulated stainless-steel canisters equipped with blow-off valves. If there was no way for the excess pressure to be released, you would have a very effective bomb. Blow off is a problem when the container is stored without any added heat sources (except warming through the container by the surrounding enviornment), what you are proposing is to add a hundred watts of heat to the envornment when the computer is turned on, that equates to a very rapid pressure buildup and a big-badda-boom.
Besides, the biggest problem would be to get the electronic circuts down to that temp (77K) without cracking or delaminating.
If you were to use liquid nitrogen for cooling, you would have to have an exhaust line go outside. Otherwise, it would eventually fill the room, and suffocate anyone in there. It's not very practical, and it's not safe either, but it has been done (http://www16.big.or.jp/~bunnywk/ln2/ln2.html). Oh, and the CPU core will crack if you do it. All the heating/cooling, expansion/contraction ya know.
If you want chilly temps and are willing to pay, a Vapochill (http://www.vapochill.com) is a much better solution.
Whats a vapochill?
How expensive are they?
How do they work?
Details of the Vapochill are at their site, http://www.vapochill.com/
Basically, it's a specialized case that keeps the cpu very cold.
Speed_Freak
08-10-01, 01:59 PM
Liquid nitrogen??? That's a little toooo hardcore for me;)
Revelation
08-11-01, 01:55 PM
Originally posted by Fink
Problem is, when a liquid evaporates into a gas, it expands by a couple of hundred times (PV=nRT). In a sealed container, the pressure buildup would be huge and the container would have to be built like a tank to take those pressures.
In the lab, we store N2 either in open dewars or large insulated stainless-steel canisters equipped with blow-off valves. If there was no way for the excess pressure to be released, you would have a very effective bomb. Blow off is a problem when the container is stored without any added heat sources (except warming through the container by the surrounding enviornment), what you are proposing is to add a hundred watts of heat to the envornment when the computer is turned on, that equates to a very rapid pressure buildup and a big-badda-boom.
Besides, the biggest problem would be to get the electronic circuts down to that temp (77K) without cracking or delaminating.
So does that mean you can keep the N2 from evaporating my just making a really strong container for it? How does that work?
You're nuts if you try to do Nitrogen cooling. I saw a hose once come undone from the coupling while a guy was filling the tanks where I work. The hose sprayed across the back of the guys leg when it fell, he was wearing pants too.
He grabbed his leg in instinct from the surprise and crumbled not only his pants but about a 3"x5" area of skin that was about an INCH deep. You dont want to even THINK about playing with Nitrogen man, you might wind yourself up severely injured or dead.
*spazzed*
08-11-01, 02:50 PM
I got a nasty burn from fooling around with it too.......he he
if you get it, be REALLY carefull would you please :)
Revelation
08-11-01, 04:47 PM
Well if I did decide to use N2 I wouldn't have it running through tubes, it would simply be used to cool off some other liquid which I would use to submerge my computer.
Also, I would be VERY careful, I would also probably get some thick clothing or something to wear so if a little spilled I wouldn't get burned too bad...
Of course this is all if I decide to try this, which I probably wont...:)
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