Comparing the thermal performance of water, Ethylene Glycol, Alumina and CNT nanofluids in CPU cooling: Experimental study

• Published in: Experimental thermal and fluid science Vol. 57; pp. 371 - 377
• Main Authors: Nazari, M., Karami, M., Ashouri, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01-09-2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Alumina; Aluminum oxide; Applied sciences; CNT; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cooling; CPU; Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing; Electronics; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Ethylene glycol; Exact sciences and technology; Experimental study; Fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Fluids; Heat transfer; Integrated circuits; Nanofluids; Nanostructure; Physics; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering; Thermal properties of condensed matter; Thermal properties of small particles, nanocrystals, nanotubes; Volume fraction; CNT; CPU; Experimental study; Alumina; Heat transfer; Nanofluids; Water; Aluminium oxide; Ethylene glycol; Volume fraction; Nanoparticle; Nanofluid; Carbon nanotubes; Electronic component; Cooling system
• ISSN: 0894-1777; 1879-2286
• DOI: 10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2014.06.003

•Using CNT nanofluid for the CPU cooling and reporting the related thermal performance.•Compare the thermal performance of CNT with Alumina nanofluid.•Calculate heat transfer enhancement of nanofluid for both cases of CNT and Alumina.•Report the final processor temperature for a wide range of parameters.
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the CPU cooling using Alumina and CNT nanofluids and comparing the obtained results with the cooling performance of the common base fluids (water and Ethylene Glycol). The volume fraction of the Alumina/water nanofluid is considered as 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5(%w/w). Moreover, the volume fractions of CNT in the base fluid are 0.1 and 0.25 (%w/w). The Ethylene Glycol with the volume percent of 30% and 50% have been also employed for the cooling process. Experiments have been carried out for different flow rates. The averaged convection heat transfer coefficients as well as final processor temperatures have been reported for a wide range of parameters. The experimental results along with the confidence intervals are reported. Results show a 4% increase in the convection heat transfer coefficient in the case of Ethylene Glycol (30%). An increase of 6% is also reported by using 0.5% volume fraction of Alumina nanofluid. The best heat transfer enhancement (about 13%) is related to CNT nanofluids with the volume fraction of 0.25% for the flow rate of 21mL/s.