MSI’s Passive Fan Cooling System with Stirling Engine Powered by Hot Air

Here is another innovative idea of getting power management implemented on PC platform. In collaboration with Polo-Tech, the famous board maker, MSI has just developed a new type of fan cooling system that helps to circulate airflows and ultimately bring the ambient temperature surrounding CPU or chipset down. Unlike other active system, the fan doesn’t require any external power source to work as there is a mechanism that helps to convert waste energy – the heat dissipated from the system to kinetic energy that runs the fan for further system cooling.

The mechanism behind is a beta Stirling engine that able to transform thermal to kinetic energy effectively. As the heat raises, the hot air will expand and push the piston that further rotates gears and spins the fan on the module. You may think of it as the free running piston in your vehicle’s engine. No doubt, the benefit is very clear that you can get rid of the heat quickly as you can turn it to something useful to run the cooling fan.

Interestingly, all we mention here are only mechanical movement that helps to achieve this in circulation. The system is believed to be able to convert 70% of wastage power to kinetic energy without any additional power supply or current drain. Only one drawback, the system has to be hot enough to enable fan spinning at desired speed. No availability on when it will be released, but you can get the first view as it will be showcased by MSI during CeBIT 2008.