Studies on Optimum Distribution of Fins in Heat Sinks Filled With Phase Change Materials

Abstract

This paper deals with phase change material (PCM), used in conjunction with thermal conductivity enhancer (TCE), as a means of thermal management of electronic systems. Eicosane is used as PCM, while aluminium pin or plate fins are used as TCE. The test section considered in all cases is a 42×42mm2 base with a TCE height of 25mm. An electrical heater at the heat sink base is used to simulate the heat generation in electronic chips. Various volumetric fractions of TCE in the conglomerate of PCM and TCE are considered. The case with 8% TCE volume fraction was found to have the best thermal performance. With this volume fraction of TCE, the effects of fin dimension and fin shape are also investigated. It is found that a large number of small cross-sectional area fins is preferable. A numerical model is also developed to enable an interpretation of experimental results.

Energy storage and solidification of paraffin phase change material embedded with graphite nanofibers

“…Results showed that an optimal volume fraction of pin-fins to PCM is 8% and that more pin-fins provide greater contact area between PCM and TCE and thus result in lower operating temperatures. A numerical method developed by Dutta et al [13] shows good agreement with experimental results from [12], specifically that there exists a low optimal volume fraction of pin-fins to PCM ($5%) with respect to operating temperature of an electronic module fixed at the bottom of a thermal containment unit (TCU).…”

“…Fins offer increased surface area for heat transfer, but their high densities have an adverse effect on weight constraints. Saha et al [12] experimentally studied the effect of pin-fin and plate-fin heat sinks saturated with n-eicosane at the operating powers of 4 and 8 W. It was found that pin-fins are a more effective TCE than plate-fins due to the presence of natural convection cells that are in communication with each other. Results showed that an optimal volume fraction of pin-fins to PCM is 8% and that more pin-fins provide greater contact area between PCM and TCE and thus result in lower operating temperatures.…”

Heat Transfer Enhancement for Thermal Energy Storage Using Fin-Copper Foam within Phase Change Materials

“…The sample mainly consists of 99% pure eicosane, copper foam with porosity of 97.19%, brass fins with different thicknesses (l f =0.5 mm, 0.8 mm and 1.0 mm) and phenol formaldehyde ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 9 resin boards. The melting point temperature and the latent heat of the eicosane are 36.8 °C and 241kJ/kg, respectively.…”

“…Their results showed the transient phase change process depends on the heat flux, latent heat of the PCM and fin dimensions. Saha and coworkers [9,10] studied the characterization of melting process in a PCM-based heat sink with aluminum fins or plate fins, which showed that a large number of fins with small cross-sectional area are preferable, and developed the Nu-Ra correlations differing from the aspect ratios of the enclosure.…”

Multiple Phase Change Material (PCM) Configuration for PCM-Based Heat Sinks—An Experimental Study

“…The results showed that the fully filled heat sink with PCM performs better than the heat sink filled with PCM volume fractions of 0.33 and 0.66. Saha et al [43] also examined experimentally and numerically the effect of PCM fraction for a similar type of PCM heat sink with heating rate ranging between 4 and 8 W. The study found that the heat sink performance was better when using a PCM fraction of 88% compared to a full PCM heat sink. Tomizawa et al [44] studied the effect of PCM thickness in the cooling of mobile device applications.…”