Energy Storage Science and Technology

   

Experimental study of a novel mini-channel phase change heat sink

Yu Li1(), Jun-xiong Zhang2, Hong-ming Fan1   

  1. 1.Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Building and Energy-Efficiency Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
    2.CSIC (Beijing) Research Management Co. , Ltd. Beijing, 100097, China.
  • Received:2024-03-15 Revised:2024-04-05
  • Contact: Yu Li E-mail:Li-yu@emails.bjut.edu.cn

Abstract:

The integration and miniaturization of electronic components have aggravated the heat flux problem of chips, and the passive cooling technology based on phase-change materials can no longer meet the requirements of high-power electronic devices with power fluctuations. In this paper, a novel mini-channel phase-change heat sink structure for air-cooled heat dissipation is proposed by combining phase-change technology with active cooling technology. The structure improves the problem of poor thermal conductivity of phase change materials and also solves the problem of leakage after melting of PCM. The effects of different heat fluxes and different air velocities on its thermal control performance are experimentally tested. The heat storage and release characteristics of hybrid heat sink are summarized and the thermal control performance is compared with unfilled PCM heat sink. In the experiment, the range of heat flux is 1.81-3.47 W/cm2, and the range of air speed is 0-4 m/s. The result shows that: the increase of the heat flux and the decrease of the air velocity leads to the shortening of the temperature control time. The 2 m/s air velocity is sufficient to meet the heat dissipation demand with the heat flux less than 2.91 W/cm2. The 4 m/s air velocity can maintain the heat sink substrate temperature at 70 °C with a 3.47 W/cm2 heat flux. Compared with the unfilled PCM heat sink, the heat sink proposed in this study can extend the temperature control time and reduce the steady-state temperature. In addition, the opening of the fan can effectively shorten the cooling time of the heat sink, which is important for the application of electronic devices that work intermittently. The results of this study can provide a reference for the practical application of mini-channel phase change heat sinks.

Key words: Phase change thermal storage, Thermal control performance, mini-channel, air cooling

CLC Number: