Microchannel Heat Sink with Micro Encapsulated Phase Change Material (MEPCM) Slurry

High heat flux removal from devices such as Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor IGBT and Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit MMIC will be important for future Navy ships. Micro encapsulated phase change material MEPCM slurry was used as a heat transfer fluid inside a microchannel instead single phase fluid. Presence of phase change material increases the effective heat capacity of the fluid. The performance of encapsulated phase change material EPCM slurry flow in microchannels was investigated using the effective specific heat capacity method. Lattice Boltzmann method was used to simulate the particle paths when the duct shape has different aspect ratios. For higher concentrations, a shear induced migration model was used to simulate the nonhomogeneous particle distribution. Results of the model were used to solve the temperature distribution inside the channels. Parametric study was carried out with water and PAO as base fluids in microchannels of two different widths, 101 urn and 25 urn. Parameters varied include particle concentration, inlet temperature of the fluid, melting range of PCM and base heat flux.