Divor
Contributor
I don't really understand how the heat sink works, really, and it seems such a simple part.
Why is there no thread on a heat sink?
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Which heat sink? In general they provide a surface area for heat to transfer to/from a device. The amount of surface area, sink material, air/water flow around it and differential temperature around it determines the amount of heat that is transfered and which way it flows.
I am guessing here but if you mean on a second stage, as air pressure decreases from the IP to ambient pressure as the diver breaths, there is a cooling effect that in the right conditions can cause the water around the seats to freeze, bad thing if it freezes your stage open or shut. The heat sink absorbes heat from the water and transfers it to the seat area to help warm the area and overcome the cooling effect of the expanding air.
I am guessing here but if you mean on a second stage, as air pressure decreases from the IP to ambient pressure as the diver breaths, there is a cooling effect that in the right conditions can cause the water around the seats to freeze, bad thing if it freezes your stage open or shut. The heat sink absorbes heat from the water and transfers it to the seat area to help warm the area and overcome the cooling effect of the expanding air.
OP
Divor
Contributor
Thanks. I did mean the second stage heat sink. Wouldn't a threaded heat sink have more surface area than one with a sleek inside?
fppf
Contributor
What is your phd in?
If your talking about ribbing or threading the inside to try and warm the gas, that really is not the purpose of the heat sink.
The goal of this design is to keep the seats warm enough to prevent ice formation. If the seats are above freezing they wont build ice and the gas temperature is not important.
Also, the volume of gas moving through the regulator has to high of velocity and adiabatic cooling for the heat sink to greatly effect the temperature. Keep in mind regulator free flow is not a huge issue until the water temperatures start to get below 50 degrees or so depending on design and flow rates. As the ambient water temperature decreases the amount of heat moved in the system decreases due to the temperature delta drop.
If your talking about ribbing or threading the inside to try and warm the gas, that really is not the purpose of the heat sink.
The goal of this design is to keep the seats warm enough to prevent ice formation. If the seats are above freezing they wont build ice and the gas temperature is not important.
Also, the volume of gas moving through the regulator has to high of velocity and adiabatic cooling for the heat sink to greatly effect the temperature. Keep in mind regulator free flow is not a huge issue until the water temperatures start to get below 50 degrees or so depending on design and flow rates. As the ambient water temperature decreases the amount of heat moved in the system decreases due to the temperature delta drop.
OP
Divor
Contributor
Thanks a lot for that. PhD is in information systems, with an application in the scuba equipment domain. I'm interviewing domain experts in real life and checking up on bits that we didn't cover or that I wonder about afterwards here. So your info is really valuable to me and much appreciated.
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