An experimental study on the use of circulating fluid flow and phase change materials for cooling electronic chipsets

The thermal management of electronic chipsets has attracted many attentions. In this study, the separate and simultaneous effects of employing fluid flow and phase change materials on the cooling of an electronic chipset are experimentally investigated. For this purpose, a commercially available heat sink working under heat fluxes, ranged from 20,000 to 40,000 W/m2, is modified. Initially, as an active method, distilled water flow with three volume rates of 50, 100, and 150 ml/min is employed for the chipset cooling. As the next step, to study a passive method, paraffin wax is placed in an enclosure that encompasses the heat sink fins. Finally, as a semi-active method, the paraffin wax and distilled water flow are concurrently used for the investigation. Results reveal that the active method is an effective way to maintain the chipset steady state temperature below the critical temperature of 80 ͦ C. In this regard, the chipset temperature of 73.1 ͦ C is observed for the applied maximum heat flux and minimum flow rate. For the passive method, the sole use of paraffin wax does not have a potential to prevent chipset temperature from reaching 80 ͦ C. However, this method can increase the time it takes for the chipset to reach the critical temperature. Regarding the semi-active method, the obtained chipset temperature is measured to be the lowest value compared to other methods; the chipset temperature of 62 ͦ C is observed for a heat flux of 40,000 W/m2 and a flow rate of 50 ml/min.