Conjugate heat transfer in the PCM-based heat storage system with finned copper profile: Application in electronics cooling

The problem of cooling and heat storage is one of the most actual problems of electronic engineering. One of the ways to increase the efficiency of the cooling systems is to use the phase change material with heat distributing metal slab. This paper is devoted to a numerical study of conjugate convective heat transfer in systems containing phase change materials with copper heat dissipating profile and the constant volumetric heat generation source. A numerical analysis of influence of the profile shape on the convective regimes and melting of phase change material was carried out. Hydro and thermodynamic characteristics of the process at different stages of melting were obtained and analyzed. The time spent on complete melting of phase change material, depending on the length and width of the fins of the profile, was estimated. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.