Improving the performance of heat sinks through the integration of fins and the utilization of graphene-mixed latent heat energy storage

Abstract

Effective thermal management is significant to ensure the safety of all operating systems. However, these systems demand innovative thermal management technology. A heat sink with improved thermal conductivity is one of the passive heat management techniques. This study focuses on enhancing thermal management in devices by evaluating the performance of a heat sink with and without fins integrated with high thermal conductivity graphene-incorporated phase change material. Paraffin wax with a melting temperature of 58 °C was used as the phase change material. The study examines how the addition of graphene nanoparticles improves heat transfer capacity and extends the heat sink's working duration. The findings revealed that the phase change material extends the heat sink's working duration while adding nanoparticles improves performance. The performance of the phase change material and mixture of the nanoparticles was examined using a finned heat sink under constant heat input. The heating and cooling cycle of the heat sink was examined. The performance of the heat sink with fins and nano PCM was increased by 30 % compared to the baseline heat sink at 15 W heat input. This performance was increased to 45 % when the heat input changed to 30 W. The results indicated that nanoparticles in the phase change material augment the heat sink's recovery time, irrespective of the influence of fins.