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Journal of Enhanced Heat Transfer

Theory and Application in High Performance Heat and Mass Transfer

ISSN for PRINT: 1065-5131

Institutional price:	$577.00
Issues per year:	4

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2006, Volume13

103 pages

DOI: 10.1615/JEnhHeatTransf.v13.i2

Issue price - $148.00

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

Gilles C. Roy
Faculty of Engineering, Universite de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, E1 A 3E9

Cong Tam Nguyen
Universite de Moncton

Monelle Comeau
Faculty of Engineering, Universite de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, E1 A 3E9

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 φ 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 φ 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.