Investigation of the Thermal Performance of Salt Hydrate Phase Change of Nanoparticle Slurry Flow in a Microchannel

Abstract

Computational study was conducted to investigate the thermal performance of water-based salt hydrate S44 nanoparticles as the phase change material (PCM) in a microchannel heat sink. Constant heat dissipation was applied on the top wall of the heat sink. Forced internal convection of the PCM slurry flow was performed through a homogeneous approach. Three thermal performance parameters, including effectiveness ratio, performance index, and Merit number, were used to quantify the cooling performance of S44 for various concentrations of the PCM nanoparticles. The thermal performance of the salt hydrate S44 slurry was also compared with a similar study conducted for lauric acid nanoparticle slurry found in the literature. Specific operating conditions were identified. The salt hydrate S44 would provide better thermal performance than lauric acid, and vice versa. Finally, Nusselt number correlations have been developed for the microchannel PCM heat sink for Reynolds numbers in the range 12.23 to 47.14 and Prandtl numbers in the range 3.74 to 5.30. A design guideline for manufacturing PCM particles and microchannel heat sinks is provided. With this guideline, the heat absorption ability of the heat sink is maximized, and the pumping power and the losses related to the addition of the particles are minimized.

Characterization of Fatty Acids as Biobased Organic Materials for Latent Heat Storage

“…Different classes of PCM have been studied over the years to fit TES applications. The first PCM class was hydrated salts because of their low costs (<1 €•kg −1 ), high energy densities (60-180 kWh•m −3 ), melting temperature ranging from −30 • C to 120 • C and relatively high thermal conductivities (0.4-0.8 W −1 •m −1 •K −1 ) [12,[18][19][20]. However, they have some drawbacks such as significant undercooling degrees and stability issues due to incongruent melting and corrosiveness [10,13,21,22].…”

Nano additive enhanced salt hydrate phase change materials for thermal energy storage

“…The numerical study was carried out using salt hydrate S44 to analyse the thermal performance in a heat sink. In the model generated salt hydrate S44 composite was compared with the lauric acid nanoparticle, as S44 composite transferred high heat per fluid pumping power, it exhibited better thermal performance [185]. It is very keenly noted that due to the corrosive nature of salt hydrate and uncertainty toward long-term reliability, application of salt hydrate PCM for thermal heat dissipation of electronics are less preferred compared to the organic and metal PCM's.…”

Application of Semi-Circular Micro-Channel Heat Sink with Phase Change Material for Cooling of Electronic Devices

“…Properties of working fluid (PCM slurry) have been calculated from the relations available in the literature [18]. The calculated properties of PCM slurry used as working fluid summarized below in Table 3.…”