Numerical Investigation of Electronic Component Cooling Enhancement Using Nanofluids in a Radial Flow Cooling System

Abstract

This paper presents initial numerical investigation into the potential use of nanofluids in electronic equipment cooling devices. Continually increasing power densities per electronic device are requiring more innovative techniques of heat dissipation. The work presented in this paper investigates the heat transfer enhancement capabilities of coolants with suspended metallic nanoparticles (in this case, Al2O3 dispersed in water) inside a radial flow micro-electronic cooling device. Steady, laminar radial flow of a nanofluid in a simplified axisymmetric configuration with axial coolant injection has been considered. The 'single-phase fluid' approach was adopted in order to be able to study the thermal behaviors of nanofluids in this application. Results clearly indicate that considerable increases in heat removal capabilities are possible in radial flow cooling systems with the use of nanofluids. For example, for a nanoparticle volume fraction phi of 5%, increases of 30% in the average wall heat transfer coefficients for the water/Al2O3 nanofluid are found. In general, it was noted that local the heat transfer increases with phi and the Reynolds number and decreases with an increase in channel height (distance separating the impinging jet nozzle and the heated plate). Local heat transfer was also noted to change noticeably with the behavior of the hydrodynamic field (i.e., flow separation areas). Although considerable increases in heat transfer capabilities are found, associated increases in wall shear stresses are also noticed.