the sandia labs sandia cooler made quite a stir last year when it was released onto the market.  here’s the reason why, from the sandia cooler web site:

in this new device architecture, heat is efficiently transferred from a stationary base plate to a rotating (counterclockwise) structure that combines the functionality of cooling fins with a centrifugal impeller.  dead air enveloping the cooling fins is subjected to a powerful centrifugal pumping effect, providing a 10x reduction in boundary layer thickness at a speed of a few thousand rpm.  additionally, high-speed rotation completely eliminates the problem of heat exchanger fouling.  the "direct drive advantage", in which relative motion between the cooling fins and ambient air is created by rotating the heat exchanger, provides a drastic improvement in aerodynamic efficiency.  this translates to an extremely quiet operation.  the benefits have been quantified on a proof-of-concept prototype.

more to their success, they have announced two licensees, one firm in led lighting and one firm that makes heat sink and fan “systems” for high performance cpu’s.    but is this advanced technology ready for mainstream?  that’s the question discussed by thermal management professionals on the linked-in/thermal management group.  the group’s discussions are a rich read that help to bring a critical view to the sandia cooler’s engineering.  

in the first discussion, the linked-in/thermal management group discusses the question, “sandia national labs, air bearing heat exchanger - is this viable outside a lab?”  and in the second discussion, the engineers discuss “sandia national labs has released an intro video on their "sandia cooler"   in the second discussion, sandia national labs responds directly to the engineering discussion.

sandia national labs sandia cooler diagram