A comparative study and optimization of phase change material based heat sinks for thermal management of electronic components

Abstract

Present paper reports the thermal performance of phase change material (PCM) based heat sinks (HSs) with foams (metallic and non-metallic) and HS with fins and without fins. The effect of volume fraction of thermal conductivity enhancer (TCE), volume fraction of PCM, and input heat flux values (q″ = 1.5–2.5 kW/m2) on the performance of PCM-based HS are studied through experimental investigation. At q″ = 1.5 kW/m2, the enhancement ratio in operating time for PCM-based HS with carbon foam (CF) and PCM-based HSNF is found to be 5.5 and 2.73 times higher compared to HS with no PCM. For PCM-based HS with CF, the reduction in base temperature is found to be 17.47% with 5% TCE compared to 25% TCE. During discharging process, HSSPF exhibits 13.7% less time to reach SPT of 35 °C in comparison to HSNF filled with PCM. A multi attribute decision-making optimization technique (VIKOR method) is employed to find the best HS configuration, and it is found that the PCM-based HS with CF can be utilized for the effective cooling of electronic components.