Melting performance of a composite bio-based phase change material: An experimental evaluation of copper foam pore size

Abstract

• PCM-based heat sinks were optimized by combining them with copper foam. • The cooling performance of five different PCM-Copper based heat sinks was studied. • Higher copper foam pore densities were found to yield improved cooling performance. • Increased heat loads triggered a faster thermal response from the heat sink. This paper presents an experimental study on the thermal performance of a composite heat sink consisting of a bio-based phase change material and copper foam. The experiments are carried out at three different heat loads (10, 15, and 20 W) using five copper metal foam samples with the same dimensions (10 × 9 × 0.3 cm), porosity (98%), and pore densities of 20, 35, 60, 80, and 95 pores per inch (PPI). The thermal performances are evaluated using the temperature profiles, the time required to reach specific temperatures, and the enhancement ratios of the heat sinks. The results favor the PCM-Copper composite sample with 95 PPI because it took the longest time to achieve a constant temperature when compared to its other pore density counterparts. Also, for the same sample under 20 W power input, the enhancement ratios are 1.29, 1.45, and 1.23 at critical temperatures of 50, 55, and 60 °C, respectively.