Electronic Cooling for Military Applications

  Electronic cooling for military applications comes in many different applications. Due to the increased packing density of electronics, it is necessary to cool critical components with air-to-air and air-to-water heat exchangers. These are usually found in aircraft or missile applications. Marlow has provided thermoelectric coolers for the electronics of the cruise missile, critical equipment on aircraft, critical camera components in a pod aircraft navigation system, and suit coolers for helicopter pilots. The crucial requirement is below-ambient cooling. Above-ambient cooling can always be done more effectively with passive cooling techniques.

Advantages of Thermoelectrics for this Application

  Thermoelectric coolers provide compact heat exchangers that are not attitude-sensitive and do not contain excessive tubing and fittings that can be susceptible to vibration. Also, in some applications where sensitive equipment must be temperature-controlled, thermoelectric coolers provide both cooling and heating. Thermoelectric coolers are more reliable in this type of assembly because compressor-based systems have a higher potential for failure. The small size of the thermoelectric coolers and the ability to custom-size the assemblies for a given application are a considerable advantage.

Specific Marlow Advantages

  Marlow has the technical staff to support the design and optimization of a heat exchanger system. When properly optimized, a thermoelectrically cooled heat exchanger can provide competitive performance for low heat-load applications (lower than 200 watts). Marlow has the manufacturing expertise to provide heat exchanger assemblies along with the test equipment to verify system performance. Marlow has a heat sink test facility that allows the testing of assemblies as they are intended to be used. Marlow has the highest-performing thermoelectric material available, thus improving the electrical thermal performance of the assembly.