Thermal Performance of Serpentine Mini-channel Heat Sink with Pin Fins Used for Cooling of Electronic Components

Mini-channels are the devices that are used to dissipate heat produced by electronic chips in a CPU. It is one of the effective devices that keeps the electronic components at a minimum specified temperature, increasing their performance and life. In the present work, a three-dimensional model of a serpentine mini-channel is designed, and contemporary designs that dissipate heat higher when compared to existing models have been modelled using various coolants. The fluids used were water, liquid metal (EGaInSn), hydrofluoroether (HFE-7100), and ethylene glycol water. The fluid flow is maintained laminar, and the performance parameter Nusselt number (Nu) is captured. The Nusselt number obtained for configuration—I with water, liquid metal, HFE-7100, and ethylene glycol water are 15.63, 0.19, 14.14, and 31.51, respectively, over a certain Reynolds number. From the results, it can be observed that water and ethylene glycol water provide better results in terms of thermal performance. Further, the design is changed by introducing two different path flows across the base plate and fins across different spacing. There is an increase of 39.93%, 40.70%, 40.45%, 39.44%, and 32.91% in Nusselt number for configurations II, III, IV, V, and VI, respectively, with water as coolant. And for ethylene glycol water, it is an increase of 87.69%, 87.82%, 87.82%, 87.62%, and 87.08% of Nusselt number. Configuration—III using ethylene glycol water as a coolant performs better in terms of higher removal of heat.