High performance heat exchangers represent nowadays the key of success to go on with the trend of miniaturizing electronic components as requested by the industry. This numerical study, based on Bejan’s Constructal theory, analyzes the thermal behavior of heat removing fin modules, comparing their performances when operating with different types of fluids. In particular, the simulations involve air and water (as representative of gases and liquids), to understand the actual benefits of employing a less heat conductive fluid involving smaller pressure losses or vice versa. The analysis parameters typical of a Constructal description (such as conductance or Overall Performance Coefficient) show that significantly improved performances may be achieved when using water, even if an unavoidable increase in pressure losses affects the liquid-refrigerated case. Considering the overall performance: if the parameter called Relevance tends to 0, air prevails; if it tends to 1, water prevails; if its value is about 0.5, water prevails in most of the case studies.
Design with constructal theory, A. Bejan and S. Lorente, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2008, No. of pages: 529, ISBN 978-0-471-99816-7
