Computational Study of Heat Transfer inside Different PCMs Enhanced by Al₂O₃ Nanoparticles in a Copper Heat Sink at High Heat Loads

Abstract

The cooling of electronic elements is one of the most important problems in the development of architecture in electronic technology. One promising developing cooling method is heat sinks based on the phase change materials (PCMs) enhanced by nano-sized solid particles. In this paper, the influence of the PCM’s physical properties and the concentration of nanoparticles on heat and mass transfer inside a closed radiator with fins, in the presence of a source of constant volumetric heat generation, is analyzed. The conjugate problem of nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCMs) melting is considered, taking into account natural convection in the melt under the impact of the external convective cooling. A two-dimensional problem is formulated in the non-primitive variables, such as stream function and vorticity. A single-phase nano-liquid model is employed to describe the transport within NePCMs.

Keywords

• nanoparticles
• phase change material
• natural convection
• high heat loads