Investigation of PCM-assisted heat pipe for electronic cooling

Highlights: • Thermal performance of PCM-assisted heat pipe is presented. • Temperature variations of different sections of heat pipe and PCM are reported. • Contribution of 86.7% to the cooling performance by using PCM is observed. • 11.7% avoidance of heat dissipation in the electronic box by using PCM is observed. - Abstract: Today, higher-power computer chips are available, but they generate too much heat that irreparably damages inside components. In this paper, a horizontal phase change material (PCM)-assisted heat pipe system for electronic cooling was introduced as a potential solution to this problem. A computational fluid dynamic model was developed and validated to assist the investigation. A surface temperature profile along the heat pipe was used to validate the CFD model. The liquid fraction and temperature distribution of PCM were reported during the charging process at different input powers. It was found that the PCM-assisted heat pipe provided up to 86.7% of the required cooling load in the working power range of 50–80 W. Contribution of PCM was calculated to be 11.7% of the provided cooling load and preventing heat dissipation.