Application of refrigeration system in electronics cooling

An experimental investigation of the transient response of the vapor compression refrigeration (VCR) system to rapid change in evaporator (simulated electronics) heat load is presented. In this study, the VCR system is designed and constructed specifically for applications to cool high heat flux electronics and high-end computers. Temperature and pressure data were measured at pre-selected locations to study the behavior of the refrigeration system to alterations in evaporator heat load. Results show that the VCR system maintains the junction temperature of the simulated electronics at a much lower temperature compared to conventional air-cooling systems. The maximum temperature was registered near the exit of the evaporator cold plate. Experimental evidence shows an oscillation in temperature with time at the evaporator cold plate and the thermostatic expansion valve prior to attaining steady-state condition, and that the thermostatic expansion valve and the evaporator time constants are equal; and have a value of 70 s. Also, for analytical and numerical models of heat transfer in evaporator cold plate, results shows that the assumption of one-dimensional temperature distribution is unrealistic.