Using alcohol w/ plate heat exchanger for cooling.

New to the forums, have read quite a bit on here before but always ended up finding my answer, so I never signed up lol.

Anyways I have made a crude diagram of what I want to run, I know there are going to be some kinks to workout using the alcohol, like finding parts that wont be harmed by it and proper sealing of the system to fight evaporation. I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas on the subject.

Depending on the effectiveness of the heat exchanger will determine where it falls in the loop of course.

Thank you in advance.

to the forums!

From an efficiency standpoint I'm not sure how much extra cooling you are going to get form the heat exchange and if it's worth the cost, time and complexity. Interesting project though and I'll be sure to follow it.

I'm not sure what the benefit of this would be over two radiators on the water loop.

TBH, I'm not sure of the efficiency either, but major manufacturers use heat exchangers over radiators all the time so I'd have to imagine there is some benefit. As for price, it's $80, so it's not like I'm out a lot of money. If anything, It can't hurt adding it in and it's very good eye candy lol. I was already planning on running 2 radiators in series so all the other equipment was already in the works. Plus I just like building stuff lol. Also I would like to put all this in a air conditioned cabinet at some point in time.

The use of heat exchangers might be to fight, for example, galvanic corrosion or two different fluids mixing (I don't know, maybe oil and water). I don't see what plus will this have over a dual radiator build.

Yes the general purpose for a heat exchanger is to basically cool another fluid with a fluid that perhaps doesn't work with what you're cooling but offers a greater heat dissipation then the compatible fluid. Which is what I am doing here. 11c may not seem like much in the difference of boiling points between Isopropyl and water, but it might just be that edge you need. The fact that I cannot find anything on the subject, just makes me that more intrigued. If it fails, then the next guy can use that information. Science is just a bunch of trial and error and learning from your mistakes lol.

On another note I think I have found my pumps though. Danner magnetics seem to be the best choice atm.

The boiling point of the fluid only matters in heatpipes of if you are boiling the fluid (technically, in a heatpipe you are boiling the fluid, that's how they work).
In a liquid cooling loop like we use in PCs there is only one liquid I know of for sure that would cool better. That's ammonia. You do not want to mess with 100% ammonia.
Mercury might be better, but it's almost as bad.

You'll get better temps by having both radiators on the water loop.

!

Bobnova said:

The boiling point of the fluid only matters in heatpipes of if you are boiling the fluid.

Click to expand...

The boiling point of a fluid is key to heat dissipation, it directly correlates to how much heat can be absorbed and released by a fluid. It's how A/C works(in a pressurized system, which for all I know is what would be needed here, and in that case I don't have quite the experience to undertake the task.) take for example motor oil, motor oil's ability to absorb heat is fantastic, but on the other hand its ability to dissipate is quite horrible and that's why we run so much more oil than the automobile needs, so that it can sit in the pan and cool while it waits it's turn to go back through the engine. It's also another reason water is way better of a coolant than anti-freeze but it would corrode the crap out of your engine if you just ran it straight. Basically its a liquid heat sync that absorbs the heat at the point of contact and moves the heat away from the area allowing refreshed fluid to come in behind and repeat the step over and over again. *Ahha! moment* But now that I think of it, I believe I have it backwards lol, we put our coolant in a pressurized system to raise the boiling point, effectively allowing water to absorb more heat... hmmm. I was stuck on how A/C works and not paying attention to how radiators work. With a lower boiling point Isopropyl will release heat at a greater rate but at the same time will not absorb as much heat(unless put under pressure, which the safety ramifications should such a system fail I do not want to deal with.) Time to rethink this lol.

You're thinking in a system that boils the liquid. AC units boil and condense the liquid.
Water cooling does not, and the boiling point doesn't matter.

PC cooling, we use specific heat (how much energy it takes to raise the liquids temperature), not boiling point.

Bobnova said:

In a liquid cooling loop like we use in PCs there is only one liquid I know of for sure that would cool better. That's ammonia. You do not want to mess with 100% ammonia.

Click to expand...

Oh man... i wish you hadn't mentioned this. Now the amateur engineer in me is starting to itch to try to make an ammonia system work (yes i know the dangers of working with ammonia)...

crap... joining this board is going to cost me a lot of time and money i can see. lol.

lol, have fun with that. Don't kill yourself. Or your neighbors.

Bobnova said:

lol, have fun with that. Don't kill yourself. Or your neighbors.

Click to expand...

you know you're sick in the head when you suddenly have the urge to try something with a dangerous and poisonous chemical just to play with overclocking your pc a bit more.

amddork said:

The boiling point of a fluid is key to heat dissipation, it directly correlates to how much heat can be absorbed and released by a fluid. It's how A/C works(in a pressurized system, which for all I know is what would be needed here, and in that case I don't have quite the experience to undertake the task.) take for example motor oil, motor oil's ability to absorb heat is fantastic, but on the other hand its ability to dissipate is quite horrible and that's why we run so much more oil than the automobile needs, so that it can sit in the pan and cool while it waits it's turn to go back through the engine. It's also another reason water is way better of a coolant than anti-freeze but it would corrode the crap out of your engine if you just ran it straight. Basically its a liquid heat sync that absorbs the heat at the point of contact and moves the heat away from the area allowing refreshed fluid to come in behind and repeat the step over and over again. *Ahha! moment* But now that I think of it, I believe I have it backwards lol, we put our coolant in a pressurized system to raise the boiling point, effectively allowing water to absorb more heat... hmmm. I was stuck on how A/C works and not paying attention to how radiators work. With a lower boiling point Isopropyl will release heat at a greater rate but at the same time will not absorb as much heat(unless put under pressure, which the safety ramifications should such a system fail I do not want to deal with.) Time to rethink this lol.

Click to expand...

boiling doesnt help heat dissipation in a sealed tube, it would only help in the case that the steam or vapor could escape in a sealed tube the liquid would just stay condensed and not dissipate the heat in such a was as your thinking., just like how sweat evaporating from your skin cools your body. this is how a water bong cooling system works is through evaporation. you might be interested in one of those

If you are going to use a heat exchanger then you just need to do a chiller. Your maximum amount of heat that can be removed is going to be less i think. The 2 radiators can dissipate a set amount of heat, but you will lose some efficiency using the heat exchanger. Also, a small amount of heat will be introduced into the system by the second pump.