Heat pipe cooling brings Computer-on-Modules to severe environments
Suitable for extreme environments, the heat pipe cooling technology developed by Cognatec and launched at Embedded World 2025 employs acetone as the working fluid instead of water.
Acetone prevents the thermal transfer medium from freezing at extreme sub-zero temperatures, preventing damage to the heat pipes, the module, and the entire system design. The cooling technology is also insensitive to mechanical stresses such as shock and vibration.
With these features, the acetone-based cooling technology broadens the application possibilities of Computer-on-Module (COMs) to use cases involving extreme climatic and mechanical conditions, such as arctic temperatures. It allows the use of COMs in systems that previously had to rely on more complex, elaborate, and costly COTS-based slot or full-custom system designs to achieve the required reliability, thereby reducing costs and ensuring performance in challenging system applications. These attributes make it the ideal choice for all COM-based designs that must operate reliably within a temperature range of -40 °C to +85 °C.
Jürgen Jungbauer, Senior Product Line Manager at congatec, explains: “Our new acetone-based cooling technology extends module-based designs to include applications under extreme operating conditions that could not previously be achieved with conventional cooling. Using our application-ready COMs instead of expensive slots or special designs allows developers to optimise time-to-market while reducing development effort and the overall costs of their applications.”
Applications for the new heat pipe cooling system include autonomous and conventional vehicles that are exposed to extreme conditions, such as logistics vehicles in ports, airports, and cold stores. The technology is equally effective in rail and aviation systems, and any other scenario where extreme temperatures and mechanical stresses could affect system reliability.
Acetone-based heat pipe cooling is particularly effective when paired with the conga-TC675 or the ultra-rugged conga-TC675r COMs. It can also provide cooling for COMs in the form factors COM-HPC Mini and Client and COM-HPC Server for robust edge servers. The new cooling technology will also be available as a heat pipe adapter and in other configurations upon request.
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