Oil cooling

Oil cooling refers to a process whereby heat is displaced from a 'hotter' object, into a cooler oil and is the principle behind oil cooler devices. The oil carrying the displaced heat usually passes through a cooling unit such as a radiator or less commonly a gas decompresser. The cooled oil repeats this cycle, to continuously remove heat from the object.

For and against

Advantages

• Oil has a higher boiling point than water, so it can be used to cool items 100°C or higher.
• Oil is an electrical insulator; thus, it can be used inside of or in direct contact with electrical components.

Disadvantages

• Coolant oil may be limited to cooling objects under approximately 200°C - 300°C.
• Parts are hard to take out and put in after the oil is put in.

Gas cooling

For the instance where an object to be cooled is greater in temperature than the range a cooling oil can remain stable, a compressed cooled gas would be used. As compressed gas is decompressed, heat is absorbed from surroundings of the gas, in particular, the hot object.

See also

• Air cooling
• Water cooling