Comparisons of various cooling schemes within a confined space

Consideration is given to a array consisting of a number of identical electronic modules. The modules are arranged into many rows, and each row includes a number of modules (18 modules in the present case). Each module dissipates 14 W. To reduce the maximum temperature and temperature variation over the array, several cooling schemes are investigated: (1) a single, unidirectional flow; (2) a side-by-side, bidirectional flow, and (3) a top-to-bottom, bidirectional flow. Numerical examples are used to demonstrate the features of each approach. It is found that the top-to-bottom, bidirectional flow system is the most effective cooling method in maintaining low temperature and the small temperature differences of the system. For a given flow rate, the effect of the unequal channel flow on the temperature distribution is also discussed