Combined effect of thermal and hydraulic performance of different nanofluids on their cooling efficiency in microchannel heat sink

This study assesses the thermal and hydraulic performance of different nanofluids with various nanoparticle concentrations in a microchannel heat sink for laminar flow is investigated numerically. The assessment is based on different Reynolds numbers, flow rate and pumping power with the maximum temperature of the microchannel heat sink. The results indicate that presenting the thermal performance of nanofluid in relation to the Reynolds number is misleading since the Reynolds number is dependent on nanofluid properties. Adopting this approach indicates that using nanofluids enhanced the thermal performance of the microchannel heat sink. However, the results, regarding their dimensional quantity in terms of flow rate or pumping power, show that using nanofluid in a microchannel degrades the thermal performance because it cannot maintains below the critical temperature or the pumping power is less cost effective than water. Therefore, none of the considered nanofluids with various nanoparticles load provide any beneficial aspects concerning thermal performance and energy cost.

Automated summary

This study evaluates the thermal and hydraulic performance of different nanofluids in a microchannel heat sink and finds that nanofluids can enhance its thermal performance. However, considering the flow rate and pumping power, the use of nanofluids deteriorates the heat dissipation efficiency of the heat sink, resulting in no beneficial aspects in terms of thermal performance and energy cost.