Cooling Systems Overview

A seriously powerful refrigeration unit on a small scale should be a possibility in the 31st century. Therefore it should be theoretically possible to store a liquid at -273C (absolute 0). This liquid can basically be pumped round the ship by a high pressure pump housed in main engineering. The speed of the liquid will be determined by how much heat needs to be leeched out of the system per second. The system is balanced perfectly for use with pulse lasers, but if more power is unleashed, more heat is generated and the less efficient the heat exchange will be. Hence the laser temp rises faster by using beam or military lasers.

Military lasers are especially troublesome, as the Naval cooling systems are generally not available on the common market. Cooling boosters that are commercially available are generally a replacement power coil and injector assembly for the existing pump that improve the flow and increase the speed of the coolant flow. The Naval cooling booster is a completely new pump assembly, but even this is a cut down version of the integrated pump system usually fitted to frontline military vessels - these systems will give a cooling / overheat rate comparable to a civilian vessel equipped with a pulse laser.

These systems are all augmented by integral heat sinks connected to the outer hull of the ship, which is of course exposed to absolute zero temperatures in space. Each laser mounting incorporates at least 1 square meter of heat sink material, and the entire mounting assembly is filled with conductive paste to aid the process.

The laser cooling system is an integral part of the main cooling system for the entire ship. During extended use of a laser system, especially a military laser or two, it has been observed that the secoandary cooling systems linked to life support can lose efficiency slightly, leading to a temperature increase in the main areas of the ship of up to 2 degrees celsius.