Heat transfer characteristics of thermal energy storage system using single and multi-phase cooled heat sinks: A review

Heat sinks are considered as heat exchangers employed to cool high-temperature devices such as electronic components. They can significantly improve heat dissipation from the base surface. A wide range of heat sink geometries is categorized into three major types: flat-plate, pin-fin, and microchannel heat sinks. Over the past few decades, to keep up with the rate of electronics components heat flux, extensive examinations carried to enhance heat sinks thermal performance include various fabrication materials, single-phase coolants, geometry optimization, and designing complicated heat sink concepts. Heat sink optimization contributes a significant opportunity to improve thermal management and reduce energy consumption. Hence, developing and reviewing different heat sink research methodologies is fundamental. This paper reviews various research methodologies (using single-phase coolant) to aim for heat sink optimization and thermal performance enhancement in three geometry categories (flat-plate, pin-fin, and microchannel). The reviewed articles focused on experimental, numerical, and computational efforts on energy storage thermal managements utilizing single-phase coolant for flat-plate, pin-fin, and microchannel heat sinks design.