Cooling of recent microprocessors by the fusion of nano-enhanced phase change materials

Nowadays, powerful electronic devices, such as laptops, cameras, telephones, have entered the electronics market while introducing highly developed integrated circuit technology. The miniaturization of these circuits and the high power generated can be considered as the main characteristics of these devices. This requires, at some point, a cooling strategy for the electronic component to avoid any failure or condition caused by reaching the critical component temperature. However, an introduction of a hybrid heat sink based on phase change material (PCM) and metallic nanoparticles is presented. This heat sink is used to cool a heat source (microprocessor) fixed to the center of a substrate (motherboard) at the bottom of a rectangular enclosure filled with PCM (n-eicosane, T_m = 36 °C). The source generates heat at a constant and uniform volume flux rate. This generated heat is dissipated within the PCM during a melting process. It is a latent storage of heat. The choice of this strategy is based on the fact that PCMs are characterized by a high energy density, which makes them capable of storing a large amount of heat generated by the heat source. The equations that govern the problem are treated using the finite volume method. The SIMPLE algorithm is used for pressure-velocity coupling. Numerical investigations were conducted to examine the effects of the nanoparticles volumetric fraction, X_n, on thermal behavior and cooling system response to ensure better thermal performance. Temporal monitoring of the liquid fraction, average Nusselt number, solid-liquid interface and isotherms is given and discussed.