Alcohol Coolant
Alcohol Coolant
What kind of alcohol are you referring to? Ethanol or Isopropyl? Regardless, even though it might freeze below zero, it lacks a high specific heat, meaning it requires minimal energy to increase its temperature by one degree Celsius. As a result, it heats up quickly and can't absorb all the heat generated by the processor. Water, on the other hand, has the highest specific heat among liquids at room temperature, allowing it to absorb significantly more heat than alcohol. I've asked this question before, so feel free to look up my previous post. Just click on my name and it should be titled "weird water cooling question." Hope this helps.
Heh, you might be mistaken.
As you're aware, beer heats up much quicker than water.
😉
So maybe you should consider using beer as a product?
Hehe...
I believe distilled water is the top choice because it lacks impurities and microorganisms, eliminating the risk of spreading fungus inside the canister.
Still, you should replace the canister at least twice a year.
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My temperature is definitely "Hell on earth"!
yeah Thanks sisko. I forgot to mention that you should use distilled water because regular water has ions in it which cause corrosion on your heat sinks. Also, maybe someone could refresh my memory, but isn't it a bad idea to mix copper and aluminum water blocks?
Putting the laughter back in to Slaughter.
You're likely correct about water's advantages due to its higher specific heat, but remember that a lower specific heat makes it easier to cool. This is the usual debate between aluminum and copper for heatsinks. I think alcohol would require a significantly higher flow rate to match water's performance, and it's unclear if adjusting the flow could improve its efficiency. <shrug> For the sake of it...
plus, water won't burn... that's always a plus... but perhaps using a 770gph pump could help...
you'd also need to determine the right amount of time for alcohol to absorb heat from the core... otherwise, if it moves too quickly, it won't absorb the necessary heat.
-David
-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!
True, water won't burn—but I'd be more concerned about it somehow getting on parts and causing a short circuit than alcohol heating up enough to ignite. Moving too fast isn't the problem either. The quicker the liquid moves, the faster heat is removed. But it brought up another point. I don't recall the exact term (maybe that's what it is...), but essentially it's about "heat conductivity." Specific heat relates to how much heat a material can store, but concrete has a very high specific heat. However, it's not a good heatsink because it can't transfer heat quickly or absorb it well. This is why some think copper is a better heatsink—it can absorb and transfer heat slightly more effectively than aluminum. Do you know what measurement or comparison they're looking for?
The main reason alcohol cools more effectively than water is its low vapor pressure. It only requires a small amount of heat to release one molecule. The reduced surface tension makes it easier for many molecules to detach. But in a sealed environment—like one with pumps and hoses—it’s hard for these molecules to escape since there’s no air. Also, distilled water still conducts heat better than pure alcohol. However, mixing methanol with water performs better than using pure water. The key factor really depends on the specific type of alcohol being used. There’s a detailed discussion on www.overclockers.com about various coolants, and you can find more information there. Sorry; I can’t include HTML links. Putting the laughter back in to Slaughter.
Specific heat capacity refers to the amount of heat needed to increase the temperature of a substance by a certain amount. If material A's specific heat is double that of B, then heating A by one degree will require twice the energy compared to heating B by the same amount.
Thermal conductivity describes how heat moves through a material based on temperature differences. The object with greater thermal conductivity will transfer more heat under the same conditions.
The formula for heat transfer is Q equals k times the temperature difference over the distance between points.
Copper has a thermal conductivity near 400 W/mK and a specific heat of 385 J/kgK, while aluminum is about 237 and 897 respectively.
Sorry for the thermal dynamics lesson...
Oh ya, de-ionized water is an electric insulator... it's the additional substances in regular water (like minerals) that make it conductive... but I still wouldn<|pad|> to say it's completely safe.