Experimental Investigation on Phase Change Material Enhanced Pin Finned Heat Sinks for Thermal Management Applications

Abstract

Present research reports the experimental investigation to evaluate the thermal performance of nano-enhanced phase change material (NePCM) embedded with finned and unfinned heat sinks. Nano-particles of metal oxides (CuO and Al2O3) have been used with phase change material (paraffin wax) embedded with aluminium heat sinks. The thermal performance of various heat sinks formed on the different shapes of pin fins (square and circular) has been investigated considering the fixed fractional volume of fins (9%). Trails are conducted for a constant heat flux of (q′′ = 2.5 kW/m2) considering two different concentrations of nano-particles (∅ = 0.5 and 1%). Results report that for target temperature of 85 °C, thermal performance of square pin finned heat sink is superior when compared to other configurations of heat sinks. For temperature above 80 °C, heat sink without any fins gives better results. The highest enhancement ratio of 4.1 is reported from the heat sink with square pin fin for a set point temperature of 65 °C. Optimization of NePCM material and fins shape can enhance the overall thermal performance of phase change material-based heat sinks for passive thermal management systems.