Thermal Characteristics of Computer CPU Coolers Operating With a Pressurized Working Fluid

Abstract

Abstract Working fluids used in the CPU coolers significantly affect the cooling performance. While many aspects of working fluids have been explored, only a few studies explain the effect of pressurized working fluids. The model cooler investigated in this study represents an air-cooled type of desktop CPU cooler. A computational domain from the whole cooler is selected, taking advantage of symmetry. With Reynolds number and temperature ranging from 100 to 2000 and 35°C to 95°C, a conjugate heat transfer analysis on the grid-independent domain brings out the Nusselt number as a function of the Reynolds number at a fixed Prandtl number. The Prandtl number remains constant here because the atmospheric pressure of the air was considered. Then further investigation is performed with an increase in air pressure from 10 to 100 atm. And associated thermal characteristics are analyzed. Results suggest that heat transfer increases with the increase in air pressure only up to a certain point of 20 atm. Heat transfer is maximum for the same air pressure when the Reynolds number is maximum. This way, the present study helps define the working fluids’ optimum design pressure limit in such coolers.