Optimization of an ammonia-cooled rectangular microchannel heat sink using multi-objective non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA2)

Abstract

The ever decreasing size of modern electronic packaging has induced researchers to search for an effective and efficient heat removal system to handle the continuously increasing power density. Investigations have involved different geometry, material and coolant to address the thermal management issues. This paper reports the potential improvement in the overall performance of a rectangular microchannel heat sink using a new gaseous coolant namely ammonia gas. Using a multi-objective general optimization scheme with the thermal resistance model as an analysis method in combination with a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm as an optimization technique, it was found that significant reduction in the total thermal resistance up to 34 % for ammonia-cooled compared to air-cooled microchannel heat sink under the same operating conditions is achievable. In addition, a considerable decrease in the microchannel heat sink’s mass up to 30 % was achieved due to the different heat sink’s material used.