Experimental and numerical investigation of solid-solid phase change material assisted heat sink with integrated heat pipe for electronic cooling

Abstract

Advancements in phase change materials (PCM) technology offer adaptable solutions for challenging high heat dissipation problems in electronic devices. In this work, the influence of Neopentyl Glycol (NPG) as PCM having solid-solid phase transition on the functioning of heat pipe assisted heat sink is studied. Experimental and numerical investigation was performed on the transient thermal performance of heat pipe integrated PCM-assisted heat sink application with forced air cooling. The heat pipe's evaporator section is in contact with PCM- assisted heat sink, while condenser section is exposed to the ambient. Investigations were carried out at power levels of 9–13 W, corresponding to an equivalent heat flux range of 2.5–3.5 kW/m2 and with PCM filling of 33, 66 and 99 % of the heat sink volume where without integration of PCM and heat pipe in heat sink as the reference configuration. PCM-assisted heat sink and heat pipe configurations outperformed other configurations based on charging period for all experimental parameters with a maximum enhancement ratio of 3.29. Heat sink assembly comprising 99 % PCM with heat pipe gives the most significant results on comparison with all other configurations, whereas the assembly without heat pipe showed the best results for 66 %.