Thermal.Live Spring 2026: Your Questions, AnsweredBy Mark MacDonald, Thermal Systems Lead

We had a great session at this year’s Thermal.Live Spring with good attendance and lots of keen questions raised – so many in fact, that we did not have time to answer them all.

In the session, we discussed our vision for an AI-centric notebook design with more motherboard space for the critical memory and storage needed to deliver local inferencing performance, shared test results for the 15 mm thin form factor we first discussed at Thermal.Live Fall 2025 that proved how 25 W SoC or 35 W GPU+CPU configurations could easily be supported using our ionic cooling modules, and talked about the role of targeted air cooling within the modern liquid-cooled AI datacenter.

I thought I would take a minute here on our blog to provide answers to some of the questions that we did not have time for during the Q&A:

Q: What is the maximum flow rate your notebook design can achieve?
Individual ionic cooling devices can achieve up to 1 CFM each. Multiple devices can be deployed in parallel to achieve higher flow requirements. In our 25 W SoC prototype laptop reference design, we have 3 Ventiva ionic cooling modules in parallel delivering a combined flow of over 2 CFM. This was sufficient to keep the skin temperatures in the 40-45°C range and the SoC (AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX475) core temperatures at 91°C under a TDP workload.

Q: How does the efficiency of ionic cooling air movers compare to that of a fan/blower operating at the same flow and pressure?
It is difficult to make a clean apples-to-apples comparison because the installed condition for a notebook blower is invariably subject to a severe inlet restriction that compromises efficiency greatly – something that is obviated by the side-in / side-out flow pattern for our ionic cooling modules. Also, notebook blowers generate significantly more pressure head than our modules, which is generally limited to the dynamic head associated with the air velocity at the air mover exit. Overall efficiency of notebook blowers also varies widely with size at these scales as fan makers continue to explore innovative motor designs to better fit into the sub-5 mm form factors that are most common these days.

So, it is fair to say that a Ventiva ionic cooling module that delivers ~1 CFM at ~1 W total power input is somewhat lower efficiency than a typical notebook of the same scale (typically <1 W). However, we view this a worthwhile trade for truly silent operation (less than 15 dBA) and the opportunity to reclaim large amounts of board space due to our module’s smaller, rectilinear footprint.

Q: Are performance curves available for Ventiva’s ionic cooling module?
Design and performance vary significantly with application, and we would be happy to work with you on any particular design – please contact us for details. In the meantime, here are some generic curves for ionic cooling modules operating at 22.8 mW/mm:

Q: Does the device generate ozone?
Yes, a portion of the air is ionized in any electrohydrodynamic (EHD) air mover and the creation of some level of ozone is unavoidable. However, Ventiva has developed a proprietary solution for controlling ozone when our ionic cooling module is deployed in customer applications so that ozone levels are well within regulatory and safety limits.

Q: What’s the typical shelf life of the ionic cooling systems?
Ventiva targets 5-year life when qualifying our devices.

Q: Have you addressed space-based applications?
Not yet. It is an interesting potential application given that Ventiva ionic cooling solutions are not subject to the same forms of mechanical degradation that affect traditional cooling systems (like fans). Indeed, Ventiva’s approach to moving air without the use of moving parts makes space-based applications a strong potential long-term fit.

Q: What about the health effects? Would this be safe in long-term exposure or large-scale (e.g., datacenter usage)?
Our technology is safe for data center usage. Ventiva has developed methods for controlling ozone emissions that work at all scales. Moreover, in a data center with typically high air exchange rates, Ventiva technology’s ozone emissions would likely be at or near detection limits – far below OSHA 8 hour PEL of 0.1 ppm.

Q: Does this technology have any sensitivity to moisture?
Ventiva’s ionic cooling modules are not significantly affected by any level of humidity throughout the expected range of operating conditions (inlet air temperatures up to 70°C). In fact, even when exposed to liquid ingress (e.g., submerged or drenched), the device safely powers down. Once dry, the device powers back up and operates normally.

I hope this follow-up has answered the questions we didn’t get to during the session — and perhaps raised a few new ones worth exploring. The conversations we have at events like Thermal.Live are genuinely valuable to us; they sharpen our focus and remind us how much interest there is in rethinking the fundamentals of thermal design.

If you have further questions about our ionic cooling modules, or how our technology might fit into your specific application, don’t hesitate to reach out directly. We look forward to continuing the conversation.