Thermal Management of Blocks in a Channel Using Phase Change Material

The application of the phase change material (PCM) in thermal management of an electronic device is presented in this paper. The considered geometry consists of a horizontal channel with three volumetrically heated blocks mounted on the bottom wall of the channel in a forced convection domain. The heated blocks simulate electronic chips. A PCM layer is attached to the bottom wall of the channel under the blocks. The objective of incorporating PCM into the system is to utilize its low melting temperature and high latent heat of fusion to absorb heat from the blocks during high-power periods, and to maintain their temperature at an acceptable level. The performance of the proposed PCM system is evaluated by comparing thermal characteristics of the system to a system without PCM. The peak temperature of the blocks can be reduced by 13.7%-26.8% for substantial amount of time, depending on the blocks' location in the channel, amount of the PCM utilized, and Reynolds number. Flow streamlines, temperature contours, blocks' peak temperature, and average Nusselt temperature are presented.