MS Thesis Presentation by Juan-Carlos Jakaboski
Thursday, May 13, 2004

(Dr. Yogendra JoshiChair)

"Innovative Thermal Management of Electronics Used In Oil Well Logging"

Abstract

The oil and gas industries use sophisticated logging tools during drilling. These logging tools employ internal electronics for sensing viscosity, pressure, temperature, and other important quantities. To protect the sensitive electronics, which typically have a maximum allowable temperature of 100 °C, they are shielded and insulated from the harsh external drilling environment. The insulation reduces the external heat input, but it also makes rejection of the heat generated within electronics challenging. Electronic component failures promoted by elevated temperatures, and thermal stress, require a time consuming and expensive logging tool replacement process. Better thermal management of the electronics in logging tools promises to save oil and gas companies time and money.

This research focuses on this critical thermal management challenge. Specifically, this thesis describes the design, fabrication, and test of an innovative thermal management system capable of cooling commercial-off-the-shelf electronics for extended periods in harsh ambient temperatures exceeding 200 °C. Resistive heaters embedded in quad-flat-packages simulate the electronics used in oil well logging. A custom high temperature oven facilitates the evaluation of a full scale prototype of the thermal management system. We anticipate the prototype device will validate computer modeling efforts on which its design was based, and advance future designs of the thermal management system.