Evaluation of nanofluids performance for simulated microprocessor

In this investigation, deionized water was used as base fluid. Two different types of nanoparticles, namely Al2O3 and Cu were used with 0.251% and 0.11% volumetric concentrations in the base fluid, respectively. Nanofluids cooling rate for flat heat sink used to cool a microprocessor was observed and compared with the cooling rate of pure water. An equivalent microprocessor heat generator i. e. a heated Cu cylinder was used for controlled experimentation. Two surface heaters, each of 130 W power, were responsible for heat generation. The experiment was performed at the flow rates of 0.45, 0.55, 0.65, 0.75, and 0.85 liter per minute. The main focus of this research was to minimize the base temperature and to increase the overall heat transfer coefficient. The lowest base temperature achieved was 79.45 oC by Al2O3 nanofluid at Reynolds number of 751. Although, Al2O3-water nanofluid showed superior performance in overall heat transfer coefficient enhancement and thermal resistance reduction as compared to other tested fluids. However, with the increase of Reynolds number, Cu-water nanofluid showed better trends of thermal enhancement than Al2O3-water nanofluid, particularly at high Reynolds number ranges.