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Comparison of pressure drop and heat transfer performance for liquid metal cooled mini-channel with different coolants and heat sink materials

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Abstract

In this study, 3-D numerical simulations are conducted for single-phase flow and conjugate heat transfer in mini-channel heat sinks subjected to constant heat flux. The effects of using different gallium alloys (EGaInSn, EGaIn, GaSn, and GaIn) and various substrate materials (copper alloy, aluminum, tungsten, and silicon) on the temperature distribution, pumping power, pressure drop, maximum heat flux, and the total thermal resistance are comprehensively investigated for a series of Reynolds number (300–1900). Among all coolants considered, it is found that EGaIn reduces the flow resistance most efficiently. It is also found that the substrate material’s conductivity significantly influences the thermal resistance of the mini-channel. The higher conductivity leads to lower thermal resistance. In addition, when comparing to other gallium alloys, the GaIn alloy with higher thermal conductivity and specific heat shows better thermal performance. Finally, numerical results of the pumping power and pressure drop for gallium alloys are compared and discussed with the prediction by analytical correlations.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area (m2)

A sf :

Surface area (m2)

C p :

Specific heat (Jkg−1K−1)

D h :

Hydraulic diameter (m)

f app :

Apparent friction coefficient

f :

Friction factor

H :

Channel height (m)

h :

Heat transfer coefficient (Wm−2K−1)

k :

Thermal conductivity (Wm−1K−1)

K r :

Thermal conductivity ratio

L :

Heat sink length (m)

ṁ :

Mass flow rate (kg s−1)

n :

Number of channels

P :

Pressure (Pa)

Pr:

Prandtl number

q b :

Bottom heat flux (Wm−2)

q max :

Maximum heat flux (Wm−2)

Q :

Volume flow rate (m3s−1)

Q conv :

Convective heat flux (Wm−2)

R tot :

Total thermal resistance (K W−1)

Re:

Reynolds number

T :

Temperature (K)

t b :

Base thickness (m)

u :

Velocity component in x-direction

U in :

Velocity at inlet (ms−1)

v :

Velocity component in y-direction

w :

Velocity component in z-direction

W pp :

Pumping power (W)

W :

Heat sink width (m)

W c :

Channel width (m)

W w :

Channel wall thickness (m)

x hyd :

Dimensionless axial distance for hydrodynamic entrance region

µ :

Dynamic viscosity (kg m−1s−1)

ρ :

Density (kg m−3)

η f :

Fin efficiency

∆P :

Pressure drop (Pa)

α :

Channel aspect ratio

b:

Bottom

cap:

Capacity

con:

Conduction

conv:

Convection

c:

Coolant

fd:

Fully developed

f:

Working fluid

in:

Inlet

max:

Maximum

o:

Output

s:

Heat sink solid part

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11802079).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, People’s Republic of China

    Adeel Muhammad, Deepak Selvakumar & Jian Wu

  2. Energy Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Sevilla, 41092, Sevilla, Spain

    Alfredo Iranzo

  3. Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Qaiser Sultan

  4. Key Laboratory of Aerospace Thermophysics, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Harbin, 150001, People’s Republic of China

    Jian Wu

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  1. Adeel Muhammad
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  2. Deepak Selvakumar
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Correspondence to Jian Wu.

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Muhammad, A., Selvakumar, D., Iranzo, A. et al. Comparison of pressure drop and heat transfer performance for liquid metal cooled mini-channel with different coolants and heat sink materials. J Therm Anal Calorim 141, 289–300 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09318-2

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