Experimental analysis of the performance of cooling plates with different channel shapes during transient laminar refrigeration

Abstract

There are numerous applications in which the proper operation of cooling systems affects the performance and the durability of electronic devices. The temperature distribution throughout the units and its maximum value severely affects their operation. Flat metallic plates with an inner channel through which a coolant flows are a suitable solution for refrigerating these devices. Five different channel shapes, considering both traditional and novel configurations, were experimentally tested for transient cooling operation in a laminar flow regime. The effect of the fluid velocity on the refrigeration capacity was studied for Reynolds numbers ranging from 750 to 2000. In addition, the pressure drop of the fluid circulating along the channel for each configuration was measured as a function of the Reynolds number. For a fair comparison between the different channel shapes, the pressure drop was used to determine the pumping power required to pump the coolant, analyzing the effect of the channel shape for equal values of the pumping consumption. A novel configuration, the cruciform channel shape, provided the most uniform temperature distribution, increasing the homogeneity of the plate temperature by 19–26% and reducing the refrigeration time by 9–13% compared to the traditional configurations.