Immersion cooling nucleate boiling of high power computer chips

This paper presents experimental results of saturation and subcooled boiling of FC-72 and HFE-7100 dielectric liquids on uniformly heated, 10 × 10 mm porous graphite (PG) surfaces for potential applications to immersion cooling of high power computer chips. The experiments investigated the effects of surface inclination, from upward-facing (0°) to downward-facing (180°), and liquid subcooling from 0 to 30 K on nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux. The presented experimental data and correlations for natural convection of dielectric liquids on PG and plane surfaces are important for cooling chips while in the standby mode when surface heat flux <20 kW/m2. The experimental curves of the nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient for FC-72 dielectric liquid in the upward-facing orientation are used in 3-D thermal analysis for sizing and quantifying the performance of copper (Cu), PG and PG–Cu composite spreaders for removing the dissipated thermal power by an underlying 10 × 10 mm computer chip with non-uniform heat dissipation. The 2 mm-thick spreaders are cooled by either saturation or 30 K subcooled nucleate boiling of FC-72 and the composite spreader consists of 0.4 mm-thick surface layer of PG and 1.6 mm-thick Cu substrate.

► Experimental investigations of nucleate boiling of dielectric liquids on porous graphite (PG).
► Marked enhancements in nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient and CHF.
► Critical heat flux (CHF) increases linearly with increased liquid subcooling.
► PG–Cu spreaders for cooling 10 × 10 computer chips remove up to 100 W.