Hybrid microchannel/multi-jet two-phase heat sink: A benchmark and geometry optimization study of commercial product

Abstract In this paper, an experimental study of two-phase cooling heat sink using the dielectric working fluid Novec/HFE-7000 is performed. The liquid flow is directed into microchannel fins through multiple impinging jets. A copper microchannel heat sink with a fin height of 3mm, fin thickness of 0.1 mm and channel width of 0.1 mm was used for removing heat flux from the heated surface. A copper block was used to mimic computer chip with a surface area of 1” x 1” (6.45 cm2). The experiment was performed at heat flux from 5 W/cm2 to 80 W/cm2, subcooling of 5 °C, 15 °C, 25 °C, and flow rates 1, 1.25 and 1.75 lpm. The results in the two-phase regime for high heat fluxes are compared with analytical correlations. Reduced subcooling can results in enhancement of heat transfer coefficient by 25 % but will increase the pressure drop through the heat sink. Heat transfer coefficient increases with flow rate in the single-phase region and in the convective boiling region. In nucleate boiling region, heat transfer coefficient increases with heat flux rather than flow rate. Geometry optimization of heat sink was carried out considering effects of fin height on thermal and hydraulic performance. It is found that thermal resistance variation with fin height shows a parabolic trend and an improvement of 46 % in thermal performance can be obtained. A new correlation was also developed to predict results of experimental data with mean absolute error of 7 %. The inclusion of Reynolds number and hydraulic diameter was found to considerably reduce error when compared to values obtained with the previously available correlation, in which only the subcooling and heat flux were the parameters for modelling the heat transfer.