Role of working fluids on the cooling of discrete heated modules: a numerical approach

The study has focused on the role of working fluids (air, water and FC-72) on the cooling of discrete heated modules under free, forced and mixed convection medium. Three non-identical protruding discrete heat sources are arranged at different positions on a substrate board following golden mean ratio (GMR). Numerical simulations for these heat sources are carried out using a commercial software (ANSYS-Icepak R-15) to simulate their flow and temperature fields under three different modes of heat transfer. Results suggest that the temperature of the heat sources is a strong function of their size, position on the substrate board, the velocity of the fluid and type of working fluid used. A correlation has been proposed for the temperature of these heat sources keeping in mind their strong dependence on the afore-mentioned parameters. It has been found that water can be used for better heat removal from the heat sources due to its high boiling point. The whole idea gives a clear insight to the electronic cooling engineers regarding the selection of working fluids and modes of heat transfer for the cooling of electronic components.