Nanofluid augmented coolant rail thermoelectric cooling of electronic systems—Modeling and analysis

Modern electronic systems have reached a dimensional complexity and power density which presents numerous cooling challenges. A robust thermal management system is needed to provide the required heat transfer, especially while operating in harsh conditions such as elevated ambient temperatures. While liquid cooling combined with phase change materials has been shown to provide significant improvements in cooling performance, it is desired to develop a system capable of cooling electronic devices without endurance restrictions. By combining a nanoparticle enhanced coolant rail with thermoelectric coolers, reliable heat transfer can be provided for the electronic equipment. Additionally, a remote multiple loop cooling system maintains cooling efficiency while providing packaging flexibility applicable to modern computational systems with space constraints. A mathematical system model has been created and numerically simulated to evaluate different cooling configurations to demonstrate the overall effectiveness while operating in elevated ambient temperatures. The results show that the proposed system maintains low computer chip temperatures while compartmentalizing the heat transfer process essentially away from the thermal load.