Improvement of the Thermal Performance of PCM-Based Heat Sink Used in Electronic Cooling by Adding Nano-Particles

Abstract

Recently, thanks to the technological advances, electronic devices are getting smaller in size. This causes an increase in the heat generation per unit area. This heat has to be removed from electronic devices for them to be longer-lasting, more efficient and more reliable. There are many active and passive methods designed for this objective. One of them is embedding phase change material (PCM) in the heat sink. PCM, during the phase change stage, absorbs the heat generated in the system and thus aids in keeping the temperature at a certain value. The biggest downside of PCM is its rapid conduction of heat. PCM properties can be improved by using nanoparticles. In this study, nanoparticles such as TiO2 and CuO were added to PCM and such a modified PCM is used in a finned heat sink. The thermal behavior of the PCM with addition of 1%, 2% and 5% TiO2 and CuO was investigated numerically in three dimensions. RT-28HC was used as the PCM in the study. It was shown that as the nanoparticle ratio increases, heat transfer coefficient of the PCM rises and the melting time of Nanoparticle PCM (NPPCM) is less than that of pure PCM. However, it was observed that, the melting time of PCM with CuO added is longer than that of the PCM with TiO2 added.

Keywords

• Nano based PCM
• Electronic cooling
• Melting
• ANSYS Fluent

References

1. [1] Setoh G, Tan FL, Fok SC. Experimental studies on the use of a phase change material for cooling mobile phones. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer. 2010;37(9) :1403-1410.
2. [2] Tan FL, Tso CP. Cooling of mobile electronic devices using phase change materials. Applied Thermal Engineering,2004; 24(2-3): 159-169.
3. [3] Alipour H, Karimipour A, Safaei MR, Semiromi DT, Akbari OA. Influence of T-Semi attached rib on turbulent flow and heat transfer parameters of a silver-water nanofluid with different volume fractions in a three-dimensional trapezoidal microchannel. Physica E: Low-Dimensional Systems and Nanostructures.2017; 88: 60-76.
4. [4] Nazari S, Toghraie DN. Numerical simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow of water-cuo nanofluid in a sinusoidal channel with a porous medium. Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures. 2017; 87: 134-140.
5. [5] Esfahani MA, Toghraie D. Experimental ınvestigation for developing a new model for the thermal conductivity of silica/water-ethylene glycol (40%–60%) nanofluid at different temperatures and solid volume fractions. Journal of Molecular Liquids. 2017; 232 :105-112.
6. [6] Wu SY, Wang H, Xiao S, Zhu DS. An investigation of melting/freezing characteristics of nanoparticle-enhanced phase change materials. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. 2012; 110(3): 1127-1131.
7. [7] Jalil JM, Mahdi HS, Allawy AS. Cooling performance investigation of pcm integrated into heat sink with nano particles addition. Journal of Energy Storage.2022; 55: 105466.
8. [8] Kumar PM, Saminathan R, Sumayli A, Mittal M, Abishek AS, Kumaar AA, ... Rinawa ML. Experimental analysis of a heat sink for electronic chipset cooling using a nano improved PCM (NIPCM). Materials Today: Proceedings. 2022; 56:1527-1531.

9. [9] Tariq SL, Ali HM, Akram MA, Janjua MM. Experimental investigation on graphene based nanoparticles enhanced phase change materials (GbNePCMs) for thermal management of electronic equipment. Journal of Energy Storage. 2020; 30: 101497.
10. [10] Farzanehnia A, Khatibi M, Sardarabadi M, Passandideh-Fard M. Experimental investigation of multiwall carbon nanotube/paraffin based heat sink for electronic device thermal management. Energy Conversion and Management. 2019; 179:314-325.
11. [11] Hosseinizadeh SF, Darzi AR, Tan FL. Numerical investigations of unconstrained melting of nano-enhanced phase change material (NEPCM) inside a spherical container.International Journal of Thermal Sciences. 2012; 51:77-83.
12. [12] Farahani SD, Farahani AD, Mosavi AH. Numerical simulation of NEPCM series two-layer solidification process in a triple tube with porous fin. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 2021;28: 101407.
13. [13] Arasu AV, Mujumdar AS. Numerical study on melting of paraffin wax with Al2O3 in a square enclosure. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer.2012; 39(1): 8-16.
14. [14]Rubitherm. Rubitherm Technologies GmbH. https://www.rubitherm.eu/en/productcategory/organische-pcm-rt (Erişim Tarihi: 22.06.2023).
15. [15] Bayat M, Faridzadeh MR, Toghraie D. Investigation of finned heat sink performance with nano enhanced phase change material (NePCM). Thermal Science and Engineering Progress. 2018;5 :-50-59.
16. [16] Sobamowo MG, Alozie SI, Yinusa AA, Adedibu AO, Salami MO, Kehinde O. Numerical investigations of effects of lorentz force and hydrodynamic slip on the flow characteristics of an upper-convected maxwell viscoelastic nanofluid in a permeable channel embedded in a porous medium. International Journal of Thermal Energy and Applications. 2019; 1(2):28-41.
17. [17] Arshad A, Jabbal M, Faraji H, Talebizadehsardari P, Bashir MA, Yan Y. Numerical study of nanocomposite phase change material-based heat sink for the passive cooling of electronic components. Heat and Mass Transfer. 2021; 1-15.
18. [18] Reichl C, Both S, Mascherbauer P, Emhofer J. Comparison of two CFD approaches using constant and temperature dependent heat capacities during the phase transition in PCMs with experimental and analytical results. Processes. 2022; 10(2) : 302.
19. [19] Basem A, Al-Tajer AM, Omar I, Dhahad HA, Alawee WH. Improvement of heat transfer within phase change materials using V-shaped rods. Heliyon. 2024.
20. [20] Chow LC, Chow LC, Zhong JK, Beam JE. Thermal conductivity enhancement for phase change storage media. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer. 1996; 23(1):91-100 .
21. [21] Abdollahzadeh JM, Park JH. Effects of brownian motion on freezing of PCM containing nanoparticles. Thermal Science. 2016; 20 (5): 1533-1541.
22. [22] Xuan Y, Li Q, Hu W, Aggregation structure and thermal conductivity of nanofluids, AIChE J., 49 (4) (2003) 1038–1043.
23. [23] Zahid I., Farhan M., Farooq M., Asim M., Imran M., Experimental investigation for thermal performance enhancement of various heat sinks using Al2O3 NePCM for cooling of electronic devices. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 41(2023) 102553.