An experimental study on thermal performance of Al2O3/water nanofluid in a minichannel heat sink

In the present work, experimental efforts have been undertaken to explore the forced convective heat transfer performance of using Al2O3/water nanofluid to replace the pure water as the coolant in a copper minichannel heat sink. The minichannel heat sink fabricated consists of 10 parallel rectangular minichannels of length 50 mm with a cross-sectional area of 1 mm in width by 1.5 mm in height for each minichannel. Hydraulic and thermal performances of the nanofluid cooled minichannel heat sink have been assessed from the results obtained for the pumping power, the averaged heat transfer coefficients based on the inlet and bulk temperature difference, respectively, with the Reynolds number ranging from 133 to 1515. Compared with the results for the pure water, it was found that the nanofluid cooled heat sink has significantly higher average heat transfer coefficients and hence outperforms the water cooled heat sink. Meanwhile, the heat transfer efficacy of using the nanofluid in the heat sink was further evaluated against the accompanied pumping power penalty.

► We examine the forced convective heat transfer performance of using Al2O3/water nanofluid as the coolant in a copper minichannel heat sink.
► Hydraulic and thermal performances of the nanofluid cooled minichannel heat sink have been assessed.
► The nanofluid cooled heat sink has significantly higher average heat transfer coefficients and hence outperforms the water cooled heat sink.
► Thermal efficacy of using the nanofluid in the heat sink was evaluated against the accompanied pumping power penalty.