High Thermal Conductivity
Graphite Foam
developed
by
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
licensed by
Poco Graphite, Inc.
and
Viatherm Corporation
High Thermal Conductivity Graphite Foam was first developed at
ORNL in 1997 and patented by the DOE. This material is characterized
by a unique highly crystalline graphitic structure formed into a
foam.
The basic properties of the foam are:
- Ligament conductivities
greater than 1700 W/mK
- Bulk apparent
thermal conductivities greater than 150 W/mK
- Very high specific
surface areas (> 20,000 m2/m3)
- Low
coefficient of thermal expansion
- Excellent
acoustical adsorption
- Excellent
electromagnetic shielding
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ORNL Graphite Foam Experimental Properties
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ORNL
Foam
I
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ORNL
Foam
II
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ORNL
Foam
III |
Aluminum
6061
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Physical Properties
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Density
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0.57
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0.59
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0.70
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2.88
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g/cm3
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Porosity
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0.75
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0.74
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0.69
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0
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Fraction Open
Porosity
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0.98
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0.98
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n.m.
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0
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Average Cell
Size
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350
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60
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350-400
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0.98
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microns
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Coefficient
of Thermal Expansion
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0-1 (z)
1-3 (x-y)
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n.m.
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n.m.
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17
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ppm/°C
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Max Operating
Temperature
in Air
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500
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500
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500
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600
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°C
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Mechanical Properties
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Tensile Strength
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0.7
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n.m.
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n.m.
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180
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MPa
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Compressive
Strength
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2.1
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5.0
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5.1
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--
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MPa
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Compressive
Modulus
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0.144
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0.180
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0.413
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70
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GPa
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Thermal Properties |
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Bulk Thermal
Diffusivity
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4.53
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3.1
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3.52
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0.81
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cm2/s
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Bulk Thermal
Conductivity
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175
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134
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170
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180
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W/m·K
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Specific Heat
Capacity
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691
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691
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691
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890
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J/Kg·K
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Some Graphs of Freqently Requested Properties
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Select from
one of the following files for more information:
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MOVIE OF PERSONAL
COOLING FOR HELICOPTER PILOTS
Funded by NAVAIR/ONR
.MPG version
.AVI version
Movie of Passive Evaporative Cooling (PEC) device
cooling a Simulated Computer Chip at 100 W/cm2
(die temperature is 69°C)
Short version (~3 MB)
Long Version ~(90 MB)
LICENSEE's
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Relevant
Patents:
- “Process for Making Carbon Foam,” US Serial
Number 6,033,506, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
- “Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material,”
US Serial Number 6,037,032,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
- “Pitch Based Carbon Foam and Composites,”
US Serial Number 6, 261,485, Oak Ridge
National Laboratory.
- “Pitch Based Foam with Particulate,” US
Serial Number 6,287,375, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
- “Method for Extruding Pitch-based Carbon Foam,” US Serial Number 6,344,159, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory.
- “Pitch Based Carbon Foam and Composites,”
US Serial Number 6,387,343, Oak Ridge
National Laboratory.
- “Method of Casting Pitch-Based Carbon Foam,”
US Serial Number 6,398,994, Oak Ridge
National Laboratory.
- “Pitch-based Carbon Foam Heat Sink with Phase Change Material,”
US Serial Number 6,399,149,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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Relevant Publications:
- Nidia Gallego,
James Klett, April McMillan, “Effects of Processing
Conditions on Properties of Graphite Foams,” Proceedings of
The International Conference on Carbon in 2002, 15-20 September 2002,
Beijing, China.
- J. Klett, A.
D. McMillan, Dave Stinton, “Modeling Geometric
Effects on Heat Transfer with Graphite Foam,” The 26th Annual
Conference on Ceramic, Metal, and Carbon Composites, Materials,
and Structures, Cocoa Beach, Florida, January 2002.
- J. Klett, A.
D. McMillan, Lynn B. Klett, “The effect
of thermal cycling on prototype graphite foam heat exchangers,”
The 26th Annual Conference on Ceramic, Metal, and Carbon Composites,
Materials, and Structures, Cocoa Beach, Florida, January 2002.
- James Klett
, Nidia Gallego, Tim Burchell, Jeff Bailey, "Irradiation Studies of Graphite Foams
and Effects on Properties for Use in a Solid State Self-regulating
Nuclear Heat Source for Small Modular Power Units ," Proceedings
of the 2nd World Conference on Carbon, July 13-18, Lexington, Kentucky,
USA (2001).
- James Klett,
Rick Lowden, April McMillan, " Oxidation Protection of Graphite
Foams ," Proceedings of the 2nd World Conference on Carbon,
July 13-18, Lexington, Kentucky, USA (2001).
- James Klett,
C. C. Tee, Dave Stinton, N. A. Yu, " Heat
Exchangers based on High Thermal Conductivity Graphite Foam
," Proceedings of the 1st World Conference on Carbon, July 9-15,
Berlin, Germany, (2000) p. 244.
- James Klett,
April McMillan, Ron Ott "Heat Exchangers for Heavy Vehicles Utilizing
High Thermal Conductivity Graphite Foams,” Proceedings of the
Society of Automotive Engineering Government/Industry Meeting, June
19-21, 2000, Renaissance Hotel, Washington, D.C., USA.
- James Klett,
Lynn Klett, Tim Burchell, Claudia Walls, "Graphitic Foam Thermal Management Materials
for Electronic Packaging , Proceedings of the Society of Automotive
Engineering Future Car Congress, Crystal City, Washington, DC, April
2-6, 2000.
- James Klett,
Bret Conway, " Thermal
Management Solutions Utilizing High Thermal Conductivity Graphite
Foams," Proceedings of the 45th International SAMPE Symposium
and Exhibition, Long Beach, CA, May 21-25, 2000.
- J. Klett*,
L. Klett, J. Strizak, M. Williams, A. McMillian, Juan Valencia, Tom
Creeden, “High Thermal Conductivity Graphite
Foam Reinforced Polymer Composites ,” The 24th Annual Conference
on Ceramic, Metal, and Carbon Composites, Materials, and Structures,
Cocoa Beach, Florida, January 2000.
- James Klett,
Rommie Hardy, Ernie Romine, Claudia Walls , Tim Burchell, “High-Thermal-Conductivity,
Mesophase-Pitch-Derived Carbon Foams: Effect of Precursor on Structure
and Properties ,” Carbon, 38(7), pp. 953-973 (2000).
- James Klett,
“ High Thermal Conductivity
Mesophase Pitch-Derived Graphitic Foams ,” Composites
in Manufacturing, Vol 14, no. 4, 1999.
- James Klett,
Claudia Walls , Tim Burchell, " High Thermal
Conductivity Mesophase Pitch-Derived Carbon Foams: Effect
of Precursor on Structure and Properties, "
Proceedings of the 24th Bienial Conference on Carbon, July 11-16,
Charleston, SC, (1999) p. 132.
- Lynn Klett
and James Klett, " Foam Core Sandwich Panels
Made From High Thermal Conductivity Mesophase Pitch-based Carbon
Foam, " Proceedings of the 24th Bienial Conference on Carbon,
July 11-16, Charleston, SC, (1999) p. 310.
- C.C. Tee, J.
W. Klett, D. P. Stinton, and N. Yu, " Thermal
Conductivity of Porous Carbon Foam ," Proceedings of the
24th Bienial Conference on Carbon, July 11-16, Charleston, SC,
(1999) p. 130.
- Z. Gou, K.
H. Wu, and J. Klett, " Forced Convection in
a Channel Filled with High Thermal Conductivity Carbon Foams ,"
6th International Conference on Composites Engineering, Orlando,
FL, July 1998.
- Klett, James,
High Thermal Conductivity,
Pitch-based Carbon Foam ,Proceedings of the 43rd International
SAMPE Symposium, May 31-June 4, Anaheim, California, SAMPE, 1998.
- J. W. Klett
and T. D. Burchell, High Thermal Conductivity,
Mesophase Pitch-Derived Carbon Foam , Eurocarbon 98: Science
and Technology of Carbon, Published French Carbon Group, Strasbourg,
France, July 5-9, 1998.
- Klett, J. W.
and T. D. Burchell, Low Cost Slurry Molded
Carbon-Carbon Composites and Their Applications , 4th International
Conference on Composites Engineering, Kona, HI, July 6-12, 1997.
- Klett, J. W.
and T. D. Burchell, High Thermal Conductivity Slurry Molded Carbon-Carbon
Composites, Proceedings of the 23nd Biennial Conference on Carbon,
Pergamon Press, Penn State University, College Park, PA, July 13-18,
1997.
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