Publication: Heat dissipation enhancement using graphene coating on plate-fin heat sink
Date
2024-07
Authors
Desmond, Saw Jia-Juin
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Abstract
This study explores the application of graphene coatings on plate-fin heat sinks to improve heat dissipation in electronic devices. As electronic components become smaller, denser, and more powerful, efficient heat management is crucial for optimal device performance. Traditional heat sink designs face limitations due to increasing thermal demands. To address this challenge, the project introduces an innovative approach by integrating graphene coatings on plate-fin heat sinks. The research aims to determine the optimal graphene coating thickness at different regions on the heat sink and evaluate the heat dissipation enhancement achieved. Numerical simulations using ANSYS FLUENT 2022 R2 are conducted to investigate the impact of graphene coatings on heat transfer efficiency at various region under varying inlet air flow rates and flow directions. The results are discussed in terms of thermal resistance, average Nusselt number, pressure drop, and pumping power. The results show that higher mass flow rates improve heat dissipation performance for all coatings at all regions. The results also show that graphene coating at bottom region has minimal effect in improving the heat dissipation. In fact, thicker coating will affect the thermal
dissipation performance. Graphene coated at the inner region has the most improvement in heat dissipation performance than side region, but it comes in a cost of increasing pumping power. The optimum graphene coating thickness for the best thermal performance is 0.5 mm at the bottom, 2 mm at the side, and 1.2 mm at the inner region, with an improvement of approximately 50 % in terms of thermal resistance as compared with the non-coated heat sink. Parallel flow direction will have a better heat dissipation performance as compared with impinging flow at the same Reynolds number. This research fills a critical knowledge gap by exploring the potential of graphene coatings to significantly improve heat dissipation in plate-fin heat sinks. Overall, this study not only addresses the pressing need for enhanced heat dissipation in electronic systems but also offers insights into the future of thermal management solutions.