Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 13 (2019) 100365

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Case Studies in Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/csite

Miniature vapor compression refrigeration system for electronics

T
cooling
Akasit Poachaiyapooma, Rattapon Leardkuna, Jirawat Mounkonga,
Somchai Wongwisesa,b,
⁎

a
Fluid Mechanics, Thermal Engineering and Multiphase Flow Research Lab. (FUTURE), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of
Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangmod, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
b
The Academy of Science, The Royal Society of Thailand, Sanam Suea Pa, Dusit, Bangkok 10300, Thailand

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: A miniature vapor compression refrigeration system using R134a is investigated for electronics
Micro-channel cooling. The system consists of four main components: an evaporator, a compressor, a capillary
Vapor compression system tube, and a condenser. The evaporator is a micro-channel heat sink with 106 rectangular cross-
Heat sink sectional channels. Each micro-channel has a depth of 450 µm, a width of 150 µm, a wall
Electronics cooling
thickness of 150 µm, and a length of 20 mm. Experimental conditions include compressor speeds
ranging between 3000 and 6000 RPM and heating power of 100 W, 150 W, and 200 W. The
experimental results show that increased compressor speed could reduce the surface temperature
of the heater but also decrease the coefficient of performance (COP). The highest COP gained is
9.069 at a compressor speed of 3000 RPM and a heating power of 200 W, which yields the heater
surface temperature of 73.3 °C. This miniature vapor compression refrigeration system could be
used for electronics cooling with the most suitable conditions at heating power of 200 W and
compressor speed of 3000 RPM. The proposed system is not suitable for electronics cooling at a
heating power of 100 W and 150 W, because the heater surface temperature is less than 40 °C.

1. Introduction

Nowadays, electronic device processors have higher performance. According to Moore's Law, the number of transistors on a
circuit board doubles every two years [1]. Hence, future processors tend to produce more and more heat. Therefore, cooling tech-
nology has been continuously developed. Currently, there are two main cooling techniques for electronic devices.
The passive technique, using a heat sink, heat pipe, or vapor chamber, is widely employed at present. This method focuses on fast
removing waste heat. As mentioned above, since electronic device processors produce more heat, the passive cooling method may not
be sufficient for cooling. Therefore, the active cooling method should be used to degrade heat produced by processors more effec-
tively.
The active technique includes thermoelectric cooling, water cooling, and a vapor compression refrigeration system using re-
frigerant. In comparing the three methods by considering heat capacity, efficiency, reliability, size, price, and working temperature, it
can be seen that the vapor compression refrigeration system is a better cooling method than others.
The application of vapor compression refrigeration systems for electronics cooling has received wide interest. Nnanna [2] studied

⁎
Corresponding author at: Fluid Mechanics, Thermal Engineering and Multiphase Flow Research Lab. (FUTURE), Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangmod, Bangkok 10140, Thailand.
E-mail address: somchai.won@kmutt.ac.th (S. Wongwises).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2018.100365
Received 23 October 2018; Accepted 27 November 2018
Available online 05 December 2018
2214-157X/ © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
A. Poachaiyapoom et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 13 (2019) 100365

Nomenclatures Subscripts

COP coefficient of performance c condensing

h enthalpy, (kJ/kg) e evaporating
I current, (A) reverse reversible process
T temperature, (°C) s isentropic
V voltage, (V) 1 compressor inlet
W power, (W) 2 compressor outlet
3 condenser outlet
Greek symbol 4 evaporator inlet

second law efficiency

and observed time-dependent responses of main components in vapor compression refrigeration systems with fast heating power
changing. It was found that the thermal response of the device depended on heat resistance, and a device with the highest heat
resistance was a thermostatic expansion valve. Thus, high heat resistance tended to have a greater effect on the operational stability
of the system. The COP of the system was 1.2. Trutassanawin and Groll [3] studied the effects of an evaporator's heat resistance on the
COP of a miniature vapor compression refrigeration system. Wu and Du [4] designed a miniature vapor compression refrigeration
system and heat sink in order to increase system efficiency. The system refrigeration capacity was 200 W, and the COP was 8.6. Jeng
and Teng [5] developed a cooling system in electronic devices by integrating a water cooling system with a vapor compression
refrigeration system that used refrigerant as a working fluid. Sathe et al. [6] studied capacity and constructed a heat sink in which a
vapor compression refrigeration system could work correspondingly with an Aspen rotary compressor. They found that the re-
frigeration capacity was from 163 W to 489 W and that the COP was from 2.1 to 7.4. Catano et al. [7] studied the improvement of a
critical heat flux that a vapor compression refrigeration system could handle by adding mass flow and pressure to the evaporator or
reducing the quality of the evaporated vapor. Parthipan [8] also studied, designed, constructed, and recorded results of a vapor
compression refrigeration system. It was found from the experiment that the system could transfer heat fluxes of 48 W/m2, with a
COP of 1.2 and overall efficiency of 19%, and could maintain the temperature of the electronic device at below 50 °C. He et al. [9]
studied a vapor compression refrigeration system, which comprised two heat sinks, aligned in a serial and parallel pattern, in order to
analyze the COP. They found from their experiment that parallel alignment could transfer heat better than serial alignment. Ghasemi
et al. [10] studied efficiency of mini-channel heat sinks by changing the size of the hydraulic diameter to 4, 6, and 8 mm, for using in
electronics cooling. Yin et al. [11] studied a mathematical model of the cooling system in two types of electronic devices, using liquid
pumping and vapor compression. The results of the study showed that differences in the valve opening affected the operational
efficiency of the cooling system.
It can be noted that the experimental investigations found in literature described above focused on the design and experimental
study of vapor compression refrigeration system for electronics cooling. Although some information is currently available, most of the
studies were done on the use of cold plate or mini-channel heat sink, the applications of the micro-channel heat sink in the miniature
vapor compression refrigeration system for electronics cooling have received comparatively little attention in literature. Moreover,
the detailed investigation on the surface temperature of heat source which is a very important in real use, is still lacking. Therefore,
this work aims to study, design, and install a miniature vapor compression refrigeration system using a micro-channel heat sink as an
evaporator, in order to add more heat transfer area than in cold-plated and mini-channel heat sinks. The experiment emphasizes
development of vapor compression refrigeration systems that can control and maintain the surface temperature of heat source which
is compared as electronics devices in a suitable range, with increased COP and compact size, in order to apply to real use.

2. Experimental apparatus

The vapor compression system (Fig. 1) consists of four main components: an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, and a
capillary tube. The refrigerant used is R134a. Heat produced by the electronic device which is compared to the CPU of the computer,
is simulated with heat produced from three heating element rods, which are 6 mm in diameter and 30 mm long. Each rod could
produce a maximum power of 70 W. All heating element rods are installed in a 32 × 32 mm copper block with an insulator made
from Epoxy resin Bakelite g10 to prevent heat loss, as shown in Fig. 2.
The evaporator is a micro-channel heat sink with 106 rectangular cross-section channels. It is 150 µm wide, 450 µm high, and
20 mm long, with a fin thickness of 150 µm (Thermaltake Pacific W1 CPU Water Block). The micro-channel heat sink is made from
nickel-plated copper to prevent corrosion by the refrigerant, as shown in Fig. 3.
The compressor is a rotary-type model, 14-24-1101, made by the American Aspen Thermal Company, with a 5.6 cm diameter and
8.98 cm height. A drive board is used as an inverter to control compressor speed. The compressor used in the vapor compression
refrigeration system is selected with consideration of real use. So, it has to be compact, light in weight, and highly reliable. The
condenser is a micro-channel heat exchanger model, LT5F2311039, with a size of 26.5 × 12.2 × 1.7 cm.
The capillary tube with diameter of 1.58 mm is used. The length of the capillary tube could be calculated from a sum of the liquid-
phase region length and the two-phase region length [12], so the total length of the capillary tube is 0.96 m.

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A. Poachaiyapoom et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 13 (2019) 100365

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram (a) and photographs (b) of the experimental apparatus.

3. Data reduction

Compressor power

W=V×I (1)

Coefficient of performance (COP)

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A. Poachaiyapoom et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 13 (2019) 100365

Copper

Epoxy
Fig. 2. Test section.

Fig. 3. Dimension of the microchannel heat sink.

(h1-h 4)
COP =
(h2-h1) (2)

COP of standard vapor compression cycle

(h1-h 4)
COP =
(h2s-h1) (3)

COP of reversible refrigeration cycle

1
COPreverse = Tc
Te
-1 (4)

The second-law efficiency

COP
=
COPreverse (5)

Heater surface temperature

Assuming that heat transfer is a one-dimensional heat conduction,

d2T
= 0.
dx2

The first integrate yields dx =C1.

dT

The second integrate yields T(x) =C1X +C2 .

When T(0) is a temperature gained from a thermocouple at the first position (Ttc,1), T(L) is a temperature gained from a ther-
mocouple at the second position (Ttc,2), and T(x) is the heater's surface temperature,

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A. Poachaiyapoom et al. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 13 (2019) 100365

Ttc,2-Ttc,1
T(x) = x +Ttc,1.
L (6)

4. Results and discussion

Fig. 4 shows a relationship between the temperature of refrigerant at the inlet of the micro-channel heat sink, the surface
temperature of the heater and compressor speed. The increase in compressor speed reduces the temperature of refrigerant at the
micro-channel heat sink inlet. It was also found from the experiment that if the refrigerant temperature at the inlet of heat sink is
below 12 °C, there would be droplets outside of the heat sink because the refrigerant temperature would be lower than the dew point
on the experiment date. These droplets could damage the electronic device. Therefore, a suitable condition should be chosen in real
use to prevent occurrence of these droplets.
Fig. 4 also shows the effects of different compressor speeds on the heater surface temperature at the same heating power con-
dition. When compressor speed increases, the heater surface temperature will decrease because the increase of compressor speed also
increases the flow rate of the refrigerant, which, in turn, increases the heat transfer coefficient and cooling rate. Moreover, at heating
power of 200 W, the heater surface temperature is in a range of 54.13–73.29 °C, which corresponds to a suitable range of working
temperature of the electronic device processor. However, at a heating power of 150 W and 100 W, the heater surface temperature is
below 40 °C, which is not a suitable working temperature at an usual condition of the electronic device. However, the decrease in the
heater surface temperature does not indicate that performance of the system is high.
Fig. 5 shows the effects of compressor speed on the degree of superheat. The degree of superheat increases with increasing
compressor speed. Comparison among all heating powers, at a specific compressor speed, the increase of heating power makes the
heater surface temperature go up. Due to large difference between the heater surface temperature and refrigerant temperature, there
is a large amount of heat transfer rate, which leads to an increase in the temperature of the refrigerant at the outlet of the evaporator
and, consequently, the degree of superheat. Fig. 5 also shows effects of compressor speed on the COP of the actual cycle. The
maximum COP of the vapor compression refrigeration system which is 9.069, is obtained at heating power of 200 W and compressor
speed of 3000 rpm. A micro-channel heat sink, which has a large heat transfer area was used as evaporator. As a result, the re-
frigerating capacity of the evaporator is high when compared with the power used by the compressor.
As mentioned above, the increase in compressor speed helps decrease the heater surface temperature, which is good for cooling.
On the contrary, the increase in compressor speed also causes a drop in COP because the power required by the compressor is higher
than the refrigerating capacity.
Fig. 6 shows a relationship between compressor speed and the COP of the standard vapor compression cycle. The experimental
results show that for all heating powers, when the compressor speed increases, the COP will decrease.
Furthermore, when comparing the COP of the actual cycle with the COP of the standard vapor compression cycle while changing
the heating power to 100 W, 150 W, and 200 W, the experimental results show that the COP of the standard vapor compression cycle
is higher than the COP of the actual cycle by 0.3–27%. Fig. 6 also shows the effect of compressor speed on the second-law efficiency.
The experimental results show that the increase in compressor speed tends to make the second-law efficiency decrease. With heating
power of 200 W at every speed, the second-law efficiency is between 62.8% and 87.6% which is higher than that of other heating
powers.

Fig. 4. Effect of compressor speed on refrigerant temperature at the inlet of heat sink and heater surface temperature.

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Fig. 5. Effect of compressor speed on degree of super heat and coefficient of performance of actual cycle.

Fig. 6. Effect of compressor speed on coefficient of performance of standard vapor compression cycle and second law efficiency.

5. Conclusions

The experiment with the vapor compression refrigeration system to control the heater temperature within the range of 80–40 °C
by adjusting the compressor speed from 3000 to 6000 RPM and simulating heating power of 100 W, 150 W, and 200 W yields the
following results:

– At heating power of 200 W, the heater surface temperature is within 80–40 °C, which is a suitable working temperature of the
electronic device processor. The lowest temperature is 54.134 °C at a compressor speed of 6000 RPM. The highest temperature is
73.295 °C at a compressor speed of 3000 RPM. Regarding the COP, at 3000 RPM of compressor speed, the COP is 9.069, and at a
compressor speed of 6000 RPM, the COP is 4.153. Thus, it is obvious that a compressor speed of 6000 RPM could lower the heater
surface temperature and also yields lower COP.
– At heating powers of 150 W and 100 W, the heater surface temperature is always below 40 °C. Therefore, the proposed vapor
compression refrigeration system is not suitable for cooling electronic devices at heating powers of 150 W and 100 W.
– At heating power of 100 W, there are droplets at the evaporator inlet, which could damage equipment inside electronic devices.

It could be concluded from the experiment that vapor compression refrigeration systems are most suitable with electronic devices
with heating power of 200 W. The maximum COP could be reached at compressor speed of 3000 RPM.

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Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the "Research Chair Grant" National Science and Technology
Development Agency (NSTDA), the Thailand Research Fund (TRF), and King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi through
the “KMUTT 55th Anniversary Commemorative Fund”.

Conflict of interest statement

We and our institution don’t have any conflict of interest and don’t have any financial or other relationship with other people or
organizations that may inappropriately influence the author's work.

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