Performance analysis of heat pipe aided NEPCM heat sink for transient electronic cooling

An experimental investigation on the thermal performance of Nano Embedded Phase Change Material (NEPCM) heat sink with heat pipe has been conducted for electronic cooling in Personal computers. The NEPCM and heat pipe configuration in the heat sink effectively eliminates the use of electronic fan. A flat plate heater was used to simulate the computer's microprocessor. The heat sink configurations were placed above the flat plate heater and tested for multiple head load conditions. The addition of NEPCM increases the heat storage capacity, causes a delay effect on the sensible temperature rise and maintained the core temperature of the heat sink at room temperature for prolonged time. Heat pipe charged with R134a refrigerant placed inside the heat sink cavity for regeneration of NEPCM in heat sink. The results showed that use of heat pipe aided NEPCM heat sink caused a 3 °C decrease in the heater's surface plate temperature during six hours of the operating period without the help of electronic fan or any other forced convection.