Oak Ridge National Laboratory Releases Graphite Foam White Paper
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OAK RIDGE, Tenn., January, 18, 2011 - The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has released a White Paper on the cooling effects of their graphite foam technology in street light applications. This technology has been exclusively licensed to LED North America. Through this research, testing was done to explore the feasibility of extending the life of LED luminaires by passively cooling the components using the graphite foam technology.
The initial goal was to double the life on the two critical components of the fixture; the LED light engine and driver. According to Arrhenius' Law, the rate of failure drops by a factor of 2 for roughly every 10˚C drop in temperature. In other words, for every 10°C drop in temperature, you will double the components' life.
By incorporating the graphite foam technology, we were able to drop the temperature on the LED light engine by 22°C and on the driver by 18°C.
As a result of the outstanding results, LED North America is currently offering a 10 year warranty on LED luminaires that incorporate the graphite foam technology.
The future of incorporating this passive cooling technology into LED luminaires is very promising. LED North America is currently working with other LED manufacturers to sub-license this technology. In addition, LED North America and ORNL are currently testing two other LED luminaires; an indoor low bay fixture and a Par38 floodlight.
The complete White Paper can be accessed through our website at www.led-na.com
For more information on sub-licensing opportunities or sales of LED graphite foam products, contact Andrew Wilhelm at LED North America.
