Experimental Investigations of Phase Change Materials (PCM) for Electronic Cooling Application Using Heat Sinks

The overheating of electronic devices and space cooling needs to be addressed through the heat storage materials. The latent heat storage is accomplished by many organic and inorganic phase change materials. The three various heat sinks having the volume of 6 cm x 6 cm x 2.5 cm, namely without fin, hexagonal fin and circular fin were made by CNC machining process with Aluminium material. The experimental process consists of aluminium heater, auto transformer, PI&D instrument in order to set the required power and temperature. The phase change materials namely GR42 heat storage granulate consist of a blend of approximately 35% RT42 and 65% diatomaceous earth. The power supplied to the 5 cm x 5 cm aluminium flat plate heater through auto transformer varying 4 W, 8 W, and 12 W. A constant volume fraction of 13% of circular fin heat sink and 16% hexagonal fin heat sink, comparative analysis of three types of heat sinks circular fins, hexagonal fins, and those integrated with phase change materials, it was observed that both the circular and hexagonal fin heat sinks with PCMs exhibited superior thermal performance compared to heat sinks without fins. During the experimentation phase, a constant power supply of 8W was applied. The heat absorbing process began, and the latent heat phase commenced at 41 degrees C, eventually increasing to 45 degrees C. Subsequently, the sensible heat also showed a gradual rise, reaching the maximum operating temperature of 70 degrees C. The performance of a hexagonal fin heat sink in terms of charging and discharging was notably 35% superior when compared to a heat sink without fins, especially at an 8 W power input. This enhanced performance was attributed to the internal generation of high pressure within the paraffin, optimizing heat transfer dynamics and more surface area of the fin.