Liquid Metal: Efficient Heat Dissipation Technique in Space Stations

    On August 18, 2023, the China Manned Space Engineering Office held a briefing on the application and development of manned space engineering in space. The first liquid metal space thermal management in orbit test, as one of the recent aerospace technology experiments conducted on the space station, has received widespread attention.  

    The liquid metal thermal management test device in the space technology test field was developed by the Institute of Physics and Chemistry Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and installed in the space basic test cabinet of the space station's Mengtian experimental module. The bismuth based metal with low melting point, high biological safety and stable chemical characteristics was used to carry out the characteristic research and experimental verification of flow heat dissipation and phase change temperature control technology in the space microgravity environment.

   Liquid metal is an amorphous and flowable liquid metal, which is a collective term for a series of low melting point metals and alloy materials. It is liquid at room temperature or lower heating temperatures and has both fluidity. It has strong conductivity, high thermal conductivity, low viscosity, and a wide liquid temperature range.

    With the continuous development of artificial intelligence technology, virtual reality technology, and high-throughput image processing technology, the power density of electrical equipment with these functions continues to increase in response to the engineering thermal control needs of high heat flux electronic devices, such as continuous heating or intermittent high load heating. To ensure the working performance of electrical components under high load conditions, more efficient, concise, and reliable heat dissipation technology needs to be adopted, The liquid metal heat dissipation technology is an experimental verification conducted in response to this industrial demand, and is expected to play a significant role in multiple fields.