Heat removal of microchannel coolers with Carbon NanoTube suspension as the coolant

The present work aims to study the heat dissipation capability of microchannel coolers with the coolant made of carbon NanoTube (CNT) suspension, which has been reported to have unusually good thermal properties. In this study, silicon microchannel coolers were prepared by the technique of deep ion reactive etching (DIRE). Stable and homogeneous CNT suspension was also produced. Meanwhile, a closed-loop cooling test system was developed to investigate the heat removal of the silicon microchannel cooler with different coolants. The experimental setup included a test module, a minipump for providing controllable flow, and a fan system for cooling the circular fluid. Beside the inlet and outlet of the test module, two thermocouples and pressure gauges were set up to measure the temperature and pressure of the fluids. The measurement results of the heat removal of the silicon microchannel cooler using CNT suspension and pure water as coolant were obtained. The results show that the microchannel cooler with CNT suspension as coolant could strengthen the heat removal capability of microchannel cooler. In addition to heat transfer enhancement, the microchannel cooler with CNT suspension coolant did not produce extra pressure drop.