Oriented square shaped pin-fin heat sink: Performance evaluation employing mixture based on ethylene glycol/water graphene oxide nanofluid

Abstract

Based on effective heat dissipation in electronic devices, the current study deals with heat transfer characteristics of oriented square shaped pin fin heat sink having a fin angle of 22.5°. It has been investigated experimentally employing graphene oxide (GO) nanofluid under laminar flow regime. The performance of graphene oxide (GO) nanofluid having concentrations of 0.004%, 0.0065%, and 0.009 vol% is compared with a mixture of EG-water (50:50) as base fluid under three different heating powers of 20 W, 35 W, and 50 W. The experimental results revealed better thermal performance for all used concentrations of (GO) nanofluid compared to the base fluid due to the heat transfer augmentation and reduction in thermal resistance as a result of enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluid. It was observed that the thermal performance of heat sink improved with increasing Reynolds number and heating power. Minimum wall temperature and maximum enhancement in Nusselt number of 30.75 °C and 19.68% respectively is associated with graphene oxide nanofluid having a concentration of 0.009 vol%. According to the results, nanofluid exhibited better trends of thermal enhancement in comparison of EG/water base fluid with an increase in nanoparticle concentration usually at low Reynolds number. Thus, graphene oxide nanofluid has proven to be the potential candidate for improving the thermal performance of heat sink.