Effective Thermal Conductivity of Phase Change Material-Based Composites for High Heat Flux Electronic Cooling

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayushman Singh ◽  
Srikanth Rangarajan ◽  
Leila Choobineh ◽  
Bahgat Sammakia
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Effective Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Phase Change Material ◽  
Heat Sink ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Electronic Cooling ◽  
Metal Volume ◽  
Metal Volume Fraction ◽  
Change Material

Abstract This work presents a simplified approach to optimally designing a heat sink with metallic thermal conductivity enhancers infiltrated with phase change material for electronic cooling. In present study, thermal conductivity enhancers are in the form of a honeycomb structure. A benchmarked two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model was employed to investigate the thermal performance of the phase change material-metallic thermal conductivity enhancer composite heat sinks. Metallic thermal conductivity enhancers are often used in conjunction with phase change material to enhance the conductivity of the composite heat sink. Under constrained heat sink volume, the higher volume fraction of thermal conductivity enhancers improves the effective thermal conductivity of the composite, while it reduces the amount of latent heat storage simultaneously. The present work arrives at the optimal design of heat sink for electronic cooling by resolving the stated tradeoff. In this study, the total volume of the heat sink and the interfacial heat transfer area between the phase change material and thermal conductivity enhancers are constrained for all design points. Furthermore, assuming conduction-dominated heat transfer, an effective numerical model that solves the single energy equation with the effective properties of the phase change material- metallic thermal conductivity enhancer composite has been developed. The temperature gradient-time history is compared and matched for both the models to arrive at the accurate effective thermal conductivity value. The relationship of effective thermal conductivity as a function of metal volume fraction and thermal conductivity of metallic thermal conductivity enhancer is obtained. The figure of merit (FOM) is used to define the balance between effective thermal conductivity and energy storage capacity. The FOM is maximized to find the optimal volume fraction for the present design. The results from the study reveals that there exists an optimal metal volume fraction that maximizes the thermal performance of the composite.

Figure of Merit-Based Optimization Approach of Phase Change Material-based Composites for Portable Electronics Using Simplified Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayushman Singh ◽  
Srikanth Rangarajan ◽  
Leila Choobineh ◽  
Bahgat Sammakia
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Effective Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Phase Change Material ◽  
Figure Of Merit ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Simplified Model ◽  
Transient Temperature ◽  
Change Material

Abstract This work presents an approach to optimally designing a composite with thermal conductivity enhancers (TCEs) infiltrated with phase change material (PCM) based on figure of merit (FOM) for thermal management of portable electronic devices. The FOM defines the balance between effective thermal conductivity and energy storage capacity. In present study, TCEs are in the form of a honeycomb structure. TCEs are often used in conjunction with PCM to enhance the conductivity of the composite medium. Under constrained composite volume, the higher volume fraction of TCEs improves the effective thermal conductivity of the composite, while it reduces the amount of latent heat storage simultaneously. The present work arrives at the optimal design of composite for electronic cooling by maximizing the FOM to resolve the stated trade-off. In this study, the total volume of the composite and the interfacial heat transfer area between the PCM and TCE are constrained for all design points. A benchmarked two-dimensional direct CFD model was employed to investigate the thermal performance of the PCM and TCE composite. Furthermore, assuming conduction-dominated heat transfer in the composite, a simplified effective numerical model that solves the single energy equation with the effective properties of the PCM and TCE has been developed. The effective thermal conductivity of the composite is obtained by minimizing the error between the transient temperature gradient of direct and simplified model by iteratively varying the effective thermal conductivity. The FOM is maximized to find the optimal volume fraction for the present design.

Characterization of Thermal Properties and Heat Transfer Behavior of Microencapsulated Phase Change Material Slurry and Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes in Aqueous Suspension

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge L. Alvarado ◽  
Charles Marsh ◽  
Curt Thies ◽  
Guillermo Soriano ◽  
Paritosh Garg
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Effective Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Phase Change Material ◽  
Microencapsulated Phase Change Material ◽  
Change Material

In the last decade, microencapsulated phase change material (MPCM) slurries have been proposed and studied as novel coolants for heat transfer applications. Such applications include electronics cooling, and secondary coolants in air conditioning systems among others. Experiments have shown that MPCM’s increase the overall thermal capacity of thermal systems by taking advantage of the phase change material’s latent heat of fusion. However, research has also shown that the overall heat transfer coefficient is diminished due to a reduction in the effective thermal conductivity and increased viscosity of the slurry. For this reason, there is an urgent need to modify the content of microcapsules containing phase change material to increase their effective thermal conductivity and the overall heat transport process. Our solution consists of increasing the thermal conductivity of MPCM by adding carbon nanotubes to the shell and core of the microcapsules. Carbon nanotubes have shown to increase the thermal conductivity of liquids by 40% or more in recent experiments. In this paper, MPCM slurry containing octadecane as phase change material and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) embedded in the capsule material and core are compared with pure water as heat transfer fluid. Thermal and physical properties of MPCM slurry containing carbon nanotubes were determined using a differential scanning calorimeter and concentric viscometer, respectively. Experimental convective heat transfer coefficient data for MWCNT aqueous suspensions under laminar flow and constant heat flux were determined using a bench-top heat transfer loop. Experimental heat transfer results are presented.

Influence of Additives on Thermal Conductivity of Shape-Stabilized Phase Change Material

Solar Energy ◽  
2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhong Ding ◽  
Yinping Zhang ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Kunping Lin ◽  
Rui Yang
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Effective Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Phase Change Material ◽  
Empirical Equation ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Thermal Probe ◽  
Energy Storage Material ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage Material ◽  
Change Material

Shape-stabilized phase change material (PCM) is a kind of novel thermal energy storage material. Its thermal conductivity is low, which tends to be bottleneck of applying it in many conditions. In this paper, additives with high thermal conductivities were doped in it to improve its thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity was measured by a thermal probe. The experimental results show that the thermal conductivity of the shape-stabilized PCM can be improved greatly by adding exfoliated graphite. An empirical equation was got for calculating the effective thermal conductivity of the shape-stabilized PCM with different mass fraction of graphite additive. By using the so-called numerical element method, a theoretical equation was obtained for predicting the effective thermal conductivity, which agrees well with the experimental results. The empirical equation and the theoretical prediction are useful for “designing” and controlling the thermal conductivity of the shape-stabilized PCM.

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