Enhancing Thermal Performance in a PCM Heatsink Assembly By Incorporating Fins and Copper Oxide Nanoparticles

Phase Change Materials (PCMs) have become a common addition to heatsinks to help control the temperature of electronic components during operation. PCM heatsinks utilize the latent heat of materials like paraffin wax to mitigate the rising temperature of electronic components as the PCM undergoes melting. This allows electronics to operate for extended periods without needing to shut down before they reach their maximum operating temperature. However, these materials typically exhibit low thermal conductivity. To enhance the overall thermal conductivity of the system, fins can be added to the assembly. Another approach involves incorporating metallic nanoparticles into the pure wax. Both methods aim to strike a balance between effective thermal conductivity and available latent heat. This paper presents experimental and numerical results from a heatsink assembly with two different fin geometries. A constant heat flux is applied to the bottom of the assembly. The thermal effectiveness of this assembly was examined both with and without the addition of pure paraffin wax. Additionally, copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles were introduced to the wax and their effects were studied. The experimental data collected from the wax with added CuO nanoparticles were used to validate a finite element model created using ANSYS Fluent. The study also investigates the impact of removing the fins and adding copper oxide nanoparticles on the thermal effectiveness of the heat sink assembly. The heat source interface temperature was lowered by 8°C when fins were added, but this resulted in a reduction in latent heat storage of the assembly. The addition of CuO nanoparticles without the use of fins was found to reduce the operating temperature of the heat source interface by 5°C.