PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL FOR
ELECTRONIC COOLING APPLICATION
1
Sachin Belgaonkar, 1Reasearch Scholar, 2Ujwal Gawai, 2Assistant Professor, Department of
1
Mechanical Engineering ,1JSPM’s Imperial College of Engineering ,Pune,India
Abstract— The Electronic device with
increasing processing power, smaller size and
greater mobility have aided in replacing
mechanical device system in many
applications like clock etc but at the same
time led to a ever increasing challenge to
manage their thermal load in a good, stable &
cost effective way. These Electronics work
best when maintained at a optimal
temperature range if the electronic device
temperature gets too high above the safe
operating temperature and design
temperature the device will fail which will in
turn cause failure of the machine it was
controlling. In this paper we will analyze
design consideration of Phase Change
Material (PCMs) used as heat sink to increase
its temporary thermal storage capacity and
maintain fairly stable temperature during the
operation of electronic device We will study
the addition of fins in heat sink alongwith
PCMs to increase the thermal conductivity
and allow faster heat transfer between the
heat sink and PCM which will reduce the
thermal gradient between the two and help
maintain temperature within the operating
range. In this paper we will analyze the design
consideration required for PCM based heat
sink and the criteria used for selection of
PCM, the criteria for determining the volume
of PCM required, the optimum ratio of fin
volume to PCM volume, the temperature
distribution along the PCM material in the
cavity as it is melting and the temperature
graph vs time vs heat energy . The results
showed that using PCM material in heat sink
lead to enhancement of cooling performance,
better temperature control.
Index Terms—ICs, Phase change material,
Enthalpy
I. INTRODUCTION
The Electronic devices are increasingly finding
there way in our day to day life. They have been
a significant part of modern civilization as we
know today from domestic, industrial, military,
medical, transportation to various other
applications. But the unprecedented growth in
electronic devices and constant striving for high
power small devices is demanding an effective
thermal management system. Electronic devices
emit large quantities of heat as waste energy this
problem has only grown severe with ever
increasing high powered small size devices The
traditional cooling techniques are no longer
sufficient for modern electronic devices which
have become more powerful and small at the
same time. The challenge is to quickly takeaway
heat from the device without letting the device
temperature of Tj – Junction temperature to get
to high. Modern Electronic device like IC’s ,
Mosfet , Amplifiers are so powerful and small
that they will burnout within minutes or seconds
of switching on without thermal cooling
provided by either heat sink or heat pipe. Also
these devices may not necessarily run at high
temperature all the time but intermittently. But
for heat sink calculation process the heat energy
loss or Ploss is considered as the maximum
power loss or heat loss that the electronic device
may experience during its operation. Phase
change embedded heat sink on the other hand
can be designed for average heat loss expected
by calculating the heat loss across a cycle and
then averaging it.
Traditional warfare included throwing of
projectile propelled by a high pressure gas
generated by explosive charge in a barrel at high
speed on enemy installations. The Target where
the projectile will hit was calculated prior to
launching of the projectile based upon distance ,
parabolic trajectory , wind speed and direction
and other factors. Notably once the projectile is
fired from the artillery there is no control over it
and it will follow a set trajectory till it hits the
location. Modern warfare has become much
more advanced and the enemy targets now have
the capability of Early warning system via Radar
, infrared, ultrasonic, optical scanners and other
technology they can either deploy
countermeasures or incase of mobile platforms
change the location to avoid getting hit. The
Modernization of defence forces is majorly on
electronic front werein with use of advance
powerful , small electronic devices the weapons
have become more autonomous and precise in
there operations.
Missiles are a complex peace of weaponry in a
sense it is an aircraft with autopilot that will hit
its desired target with payload even if the target
deploy countermeasures or changes its location.
For this reason missiles are categorized as guided
airborne ranged weapon that is self propelled
either by a rocket engine or jet engine. The Nazi
Germany in World War II developed the first
operational missile system which were the V-1
flying bomb & V-2 rocket which used
mechanical autopilot for guidance to keep the
missile flying along a predefined trajectory.
Missiles are of different types like surface-to-
surface and air-to-surface missiles (ballistic,
cruise, anti-ship, anti-tank, etc.), air-to-air
missiles, surface-to-air missiles (and anti-
ballistic), and anti-satellite weapons. Missiles are
an integral part of modern weaponry of any
defence forces. It is used in all three dimensions
of land ,water , air and soon space.
Missile typically have have four system
components classified as
a)Targeting/guidance system
b)Flight control system
c)Warhead
d)Engine
a)Targeting/guidance system
Mostly guidance system use some form of
radiation, like radio waves infrared or lasers or to
guide the missile to its target. The target might
emit this radiation like the radio waves from an
enemy radar or the heat of an engine or it may be
by the missile itself like a radar, or may be
generated by a friendly platform like the radar or
laser of the launch vehicle . Incase of radiation
from the target it is often known as fire-and-
forget as they need no further support or control
from the launch vehicle. Another system is a TV
guidance, with a optical or infrared picture
generated in order to see the target. The video
might be used by a operator who steering the
missile onto its target or by a computer autopilot
programmed to destroy enemy targets
The targeting system will work on the principle
of knowing the actual location of enemy targets
and the missile is guided to this location by using
a autopilot which will be a electronic device that
will gather input data like the target location
,current location and designed trajectory with
help of systems INS(Inertial Navigation System )
, TERCOM (Terrain Contour Matching) and
satellite guidance like GPS (Global Positioning
System)
b) Flight control system
The missile system whether it is using Guidance
or Targeting or both will need to control the
direction it is heading which can either be
achieved by gimble control of jet/rocket nozzle
or aerodynamic surfaces like wings , canards ,
gills controlled by computer via actuators.
c) Warhead
It is generally a Explosive projectile which is
designed to destroy the enemy target
d)Engine : The missile systems generally have
engine which is either Solid/Liquid fuel rocket
engines or Jet Engines designed to last for
specific range and speed.
The main outcome of reviewing the entire
missile system is that we can understand that in a
modern guided missile be it of any type
Two/Three systems out of 4 systems are
controlled by a on board computer which can
work as a standalone unit or can work in unison
with ground based units. The Modern guided
missile systems have very powerful CPU which
can do a lot of processing of input data from
sensors and control the Trajectory of the missile
actively. Now were there is a Electronic Device
like CPU or other system there will be waste
heat generated which has to be dissipated.
The Thermal heat management of missile system
poses a significant challenge due the operating
condition of missile and its design. Unlike
ground based electronic systems which have the
luxury of space, weight and access to air or
liquid cooling the electronic system in the
missile have very limited options .
Now in a CPU the entire electrical power input is
converted into heat It's the changing from 0 to 1
and back (which ultimately is what a computer
does) which consumes the energy, because
charge has to be moved from one place to
another, and it's this current (moving charge)
through resistance which causes heat. P=I^2 x R
so if the CPU has a wattage rating of 70 W it
means it will generate 70 Watts of heat per hour
which needs to be dissipated somewhere or the
junction temperature will exceed the design
temperature which will lead to the failure of the
CPU. CPU generally have a maximum operating
temperature of 70 C above which it will lead to
degraded performance or failure now since these
missile cost multiple of million dollar it would
be very unfortunate if the missile fails to hit
target or worse attacks wrong location all
because of poorly designed heat management
system
Electronic components typically have three
package ratings Commercial, Industrial and
Military. The primary difference between these
is the type of environment the component is
designed to operate in. The commercial
environment is the most benign while the
Military is the most severe, with Industrial being
somewhere between the two. Historically,
military grade components have been used in
missile. But recently there has been a push to use
COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) components.
This push and world-wide demand for
commercial grade components have made
military grade components less financially
lucrative and as'a result are becoming harder to
find. Modem electronics in current missile
demand more power than those in the past while
keeping the same volume as 10 to 20 years ago.
But these electronic components are designed for
a commercial environment, not for some of the
harshest environment on, under or outside of
earth
The primary cooling technique for missiles has
been conduction and thermal capacitance. That
is, waste heat is extracted from the heat source, is
then conducted into the surrounding mass. If the
aero heating environment is favorable, this heat
can be transferred to the ambient environment.
This technique is possible only because the flight
mission is short. Since the flight is short, the
system never reaches steady state. In fact, most
missiles could not survive if the mission were
longer because the thermal capacitance of the
system is insufficient to cool the electronics. The
ability to release waste heat into the environment
is becoming more of a challenge because the
modem missiles are asked to fly faster and
longer. If a speed is sufficiently fast, the
electronics have to be shielded from the
environment. Under this condition, waste heat
builds up inside the missile and eventually
destroys the electronics.
Thermal solutions are the key to technology
advancements. When thermal solutions are
available, they are only technology enablers. But
thermal solutions are not available, they are
system limiters. For the future (actually on the
drawing boards today), electronic cooling
solutions need to be developed, proven and made
robust to meet the requirements of missiles that
will go faster and stay aloft longer. These
"future" missiles are hypersonic and remain
aloft, at high speed, for minutes to hours (unlike
flight times of seconds for current missiles).
Remember, the cooling solution for current
missiles work primarily because either the flights
are short in duration or the heat can be ejected
into the ambient environment. This thermal
capacitance cooling solution will not work for
the faster, long-duration missiles of the future.
Current missile electronic cooling techniques are
at the outer limits of usefulness and are not
sufficient for the next generation. If we are not
careful, the lack of electronic cooling technical
will at best limit future missiles or at worst make
the desired future missile impossible.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
[1] A novel design of heat sink with PCM for
electronics cooling M. Jaworski, R. Domanski
In this paper the author discusses about the
challenges of modern electronic components
which emit high amout of heat as loss during
their operation. It describe the use of PCM in
hollow tube which are arranged in array on the
base of heat sink. The heat sink manages to
maintain very good temperature control despite
varying heat load.the fluctuations in heat loss is
absorbed by the PCM in the tubes and
temperature is maintained at fairly stable
condition
[2] A numerical method for PCM-based pin fin
heat sinks optimization R. Pakrouh ,M.J.
Hosseini
In this paper the PCM heat conductivity is
enhanced by using extended surfaces or fins . the
design of fin is optimized like the height , width
and length of fins for achieving maximum heat
transfer to the PCM at the same time increasing
the operational period of time for the PCM
before all the solid melts and the PCM embedded
heat sink operates in sensible heat region which
will lead to increase in temperature . for the
purpose Phase change material selected is
RT44HC.
[3] Approximate analytical model for
solidification in a finite PCM storage with
internal fins. Piia Lamberg Kai Siren
In this paper the solid – liquid interface is
studied which is result of either melting of solid
or the solidification of liquid PCM . As the phase
change occurs the solid liquid interface also
travels. It is very essential to calculate the
position of this interface to have a better study of
behavior of PCM under heat load. The author
has presented a simple analytical solution to the
PCM solid liquid interface at the time location
and temperature gradient of the fin.
[4] Thermal Performance of Phase Change
Material (PCM) based Pin-Finned Heat sinks for
Electronics Devices: Effect of Pin Thickness and
PCM Volume Fraction
Adeel Arshad, Hafiz Muhammad Ali, Muzaffar
Ali, Shehryar Manzur
In this paper the author has done experimental
study to determine the performance like
operation duration time and temperature. PCM is
selected as paraffin wasx for this study. As
Paraffin wax is kown to have low thermal
conductivity it needs TCE Thermal conduction
enchancing to work effectively. The TCE used is
rectangular shape fins by this author. The result
is obtained by comparing the volume fractions of
different fin configuration to obtain the optimal
configuration which will give highest operational
time and temperature within operational limit.
[5] Numerical method and model for calculating
thermal storage time for an annular tube with
phase change material
LIU Fan-han, 2, XU Jian-xin, 3, WANG Hui-
tao2, WANG Hua
For calculating the thermal storage time for an
annular tube with phase change material (PCM),
a novel method is proposed. The method is
suitable for either low-temperature PCM or high-
temperature PCM whose initial temperature is
near the melting point. The deviation fit is
smaller than 8% when the time is below 2×104 s.
Comparison between the predictions and the
reported experimental data of thermal storage
time at same conditions is investigated and good
agreements have been got.. Results show a linear
relation between the maximum amount of stored
heat and thermal storage time, and their ratio
increases with the height of the thermal storage
unit. As the thickness of the cavity increases,
natural convection plays an increasingly
important role in promoting the melting behavior
of paraffin. When the thickness of the cavity is
small, natural convection restrains the melting
behavior of paraffin.
[6] Latent Heat Storage Through Phase Change
Materials
Akanksha Mishra, A Shukla and Atul Sharma
Energy requirement is increasing day-by-day for
all of us. Though the major demand comes in the
form of electrical energy for domestic as well as
the industrial sector, some of this demand can be
reduced by appropriately utilizing thermal
energy available via solar radiation. Phase
change material (commonly known as PCM),
which has become an attractive means to store
thermal energy, has a wide range of applications
in today’s world. This article explains the
PCMbased technology, its principle and its
numerous applications in everyday life.
III. TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
As it is obvious by the name PCM operates by
using phase change. PCM has high latent heat of
energy which it absorbs while melting or release
while solidification to the surrounding during
phase transfer. This enables the temperature to
be controlled very finely to melting temperature
of PCM. During the phase transition a materials
latent heat increases dramatically which allows it
to store thermal energy for some duration of time
typically which can either be in minutes ,
seconds or some time hours. The major benefit
of integrating PCM is that it will maintain its
melting temperature during the phase transition.
Depending upon how much PCM is in the
system and the power being applied to it heat
sink storage capacity can be a couple of seconds,
minutes or even few hours
III a) BASICS
The main property of phase change materials is
the latent heat of energy which is heat energy
absorbed/emitted by the material during melting
process/solidification process. PCM typically
can absorb multiple order of magnitude of more
heat than a single phase material.
The graph 1 explains the effect .The temperature
is plotted on Y axis and Heat Q plotted on X
axis. The inclined shows sensible heat that
causes direct temperature increase. The black
line shows temperature distribution of PCM.
When the PCM reach its melting point it
maintains almost constant temperature as per its
nature. It maintains that temperature range until
all of the PCM is melted, then it will return to the
sensible heat regime
III b) Benefits of using PCM
 Temporary heat storage
 Less weight than equivalent heat sink
without PCM
 Compatibility with various heat sink
materials
 Functions reliably over many heating
and cooling cycles
 Completely passive requires no moving
parts.
Some challenges that need to be addressed is
very low thermal conductivity of these materials
particularly paraffin wax which is widely used in
different applications and relatively high cost of
high purity PCM although low cost low purity
PCM are also available.

IV. PCM SELECTION

In designing a PCM heat sink a very critical
parameter is of selection of PCM itself the key
attribute is selection of a PCM that has a melting
point at a temperature acceptable for device
efficient operation
 Essential properties to consider
 Melt temperature range
 Compatibility with base metal
 Type of PCM
 Purity of PCM desired

Capacity of temporary thermal storage required

Once the potential materials have been identified
they should be evaluated for storage capacity
including fin thickness, required PCM volume
and weight.
PCM Melt temp range Fin volume%
(Celcius)
A 58-62 10
B 61-63 10
C 60-62 10
Table no :1 Different heat storage values for
types of PCM
In the table above you can see three different
types of PCM (values only for representation)
having approx. same melting temperature range
and same fin volume density. The heat storage is
different for every type of PCM due to different
latent heat value.
IV a) Types of PCM
There are several factors while selecting a PCM.
An good PCM will have a high latent heat of
energy, good thermal conductivity, specific heat,
density and high reliability during repeat thermal
cycles and predictable freezing pattern.
In table no-2 green shows attractive feature and
red indicates drawbacks. There are several types
of PCM like Paraffin , Non-Parrafin Organics,
Hydrated salts, Metallics. Paraffin waxes are the
most commonly used pcm because they have
higher Latent heat per unit kg, have a large
melting point range, provide reliable cycling and
are not corrosive, chemically inert although they
have a drawback of low thermal conductivity
which can be managed by proper heat sink
design with internal fin in PCM cavity. When
designing the Paraffin PCM Heat sink void
management is important because the volume of
solid increses by approx. 8-15 percent during the
phase change.
Hydrated salt are another category of PCM that
have high latent heat of energy for given volume
and weight and have good thermal conductivity
for nonmetals and less volume change between
Latent phase PCM mass
change (Solid Heat storageThey are not
and Liquid).
heat commonly (Kg) used as they(KJ)are highly corrosive and
KJ/Kg long-term reliability is bad Other PCM materials
240 2.1organic paraffin
like non 504 and metallic and liquid
230 - gas 2.0 460
phase change materials are available but
260 tend to1.8
be used for this468
applications
IV b) Paraffin wax
As mentioned earlier paraffin waxes are the most
widely used PCM because they are chemically
compatible with wide range of metals as well as
non-metals. They have large latent heat capacity
and can be used for wide temperature operating
range
A table no - 03 below shows some paraffin
waxes along with chemical formula being used
in electronics application due to melting
temperature range being favorable.
V. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS OF PCM
HEAT SINK
PCM heat sink modules are sealed leak tight and
the internal fin design is critical to operation. We
will discuss on optimizating the fins for proper
melting of PCM and void & pressure
considerations. In the first step to design a PCM
embedded heat sink we have to firstly calculate
the heat loss by the device or Ploss which can
either be given by the device manufacturer or
calculate by determining the efficiency of the
device and what percentage of input energy is
being converted into heat energy. The variation
of heat loss w.r.t time should be considered and
an average value of heat loss should be
considered also its is desirable to have some
temporary thermal storage time which will act as
buffer before the PCM heat sink gets to hot and
reduces the performance of electronic device or
totally shuts it down. By factoring all the
parameters the temporary thermal energy storage
duration should be determined. Once the
required time is calculated then the suitable
material should be selected as per the
temperature range and the volume of PCM
required should be determined.
The flowchart for designing of PCM embedded
heat sink is given with steps. The first step will
be by determining the heat loss Ploss from the
device to calculate the volume of PCM required.
This will help in determining the required Fig no – 03 Schematic of PCM filled cavity
volume of the PCM which is based on temporary
thermal storage time required and heat flux from
the electronic device.As the PCM is known to
have less thermal conductivity . It is necessary to V.a) CALCULATIONS :
have extended surfaces or fins for additional heat The main objective of a heat sink is to reduce the
conduction to the PCM and reduce the junction temperature of the electronic device to a
conduction resistance to the PCM. This will help temperature range which is optimal for its
in reducing the heat gradient of the heat sink. A performance and life .
thermal analysis is required for to determine the Problem statement : To maintain the temperature
heat transfer between heat sink and PCM and to of CPU in Brahmos missile below it critical 67.2
track the solid-liquid interface. As PCM is C for the entire flight time .
housed in a sealed cavity . the pressure in the Missile specification as follows
cavity rises as a result of temperature increase …(source www.brahmos.com )
this makes it a pressure vessel by design the Name : BrahMos
structural design of PCM embedded heat sink is Manufacturer : BrahMos Aerospace Limited ,
crucial for safe operation. India
Operational range : 600 Km
Speed : Mach 3 , 3700 km/h ,2300mph , 1.0km/s
Average : 3000km/hr
Flight Ceiling: 15000m , 15 Km
Accuracy : 1m
Mass : 3000 kg
Warhead capacity : 200kg
In a PCM embedded heat sink the major Diameter : 0.6m
challenge is of open space or void management . Length : 8.4m
As we already know that PCM expands while Maximum Flight time : 12minutes
absorbing latent heat . So it is necessary to
provide some space for the PCM to expand Since missile processor details are not in public
freely. This space is generally 8- 15 % of volume domain due to National Security As per COTS
of PCM which depends on the material used. It is (commercial off-the-shelf) consideration one of
crucial to have just the optimum amount of space most powerful and reliable processor from Intel
or void to avoid high thermal gradient in case of corporation will be taken with specs as follows:
large void space and structural failure if the void
is small. The angle of inclination or the Processor Name : i7-975
orientation of the heat sink w.r.t gravity should Core Frequency : 3.33 Ghz
be taken into consideration while designing void Thermal Design Power (W) : 100W
space. TCASE_MAX (C) : 62.2

The package components shown in Figure
include the following:
• Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS)
• Thermal Interface Material (TIM)
• Processor core (die)
• Package substrate
1. Figure is not to scale and is for reference only.
2. B1: Max = 45.07 mm, Min = 44.93 mm.
3. B2: Max = 42.57 mm, Min = 42.43 mm.
4. C1: Max = 39.1 mm, Min = 38.9 mm.
5. C2: Max = 36.6 mm, Min = 36.4 mm.
6. C3: Max = 2.3 mm, Min = 2.2 mm
7. C4: Max = 2.3 mm, Min = 2.2 mm
Case 1 :
Consider the electronic device has no heat sink
of any form Then we need to find out junction
temperature Tj
Given Data :
= 100 Watts
…. Source www.intel.com
= 43.9
Ambient : 25 C
=
= x +
= 43.9 x 100 + 25
= 4390 + 25
= 4415
As we can clearly see the junction temperature is
at 4415 C without a heat sink way above TDP
of 85 C with the processor assembly just
exposed to atmosphere in still air which shows
that the processor will instantly burn up and get
destroyed as it is turned or without heat sink or
the thermal management system fails.
Case II :
Design PCM filled heat sink to absorb the heat
from the processor for designated time while
maintaining the junction temperature below T
case Max of 85 C.
As the use is in missile system which means the
processor has to work only for a finite amount of
time after which it gets destroyed with the entire
missile . The time of operation will be equal to
flight time of the missile during which the
processor will act as autopilot and steer the
missile to the target accurately.
Step 1 : To calculate the maximum heat output
and total heat output during the entire duration of
flight
Since our processor will be running at maximum
capacity for the whole flight time the maximum
heat output will be equal to average heat output.
Heat loss by Processor = 100 Watts/hr
…. Source www.intel.com
PCM name: Paraffin Wax C25H52
Melting temperature Tf: 54.0 oC ….
( EPA DSSTox)
Latent heat : 220 J/g
Specific heat Cp : 2.9 J/gK
ρ/(kg·m−3) 800
c (solid/liquid)/(kJ·kg−1·K−1) 1.8/1.5
λ (solid/liquid)/(W·m−1·K−1) 0.24/0.2
β/K−1 0.0015
Tempertaure solidus Ts/K 330
Temperatuer liquidus Tl/K 333
μ/(Pa·s) 0.03
Total heat output of processor : x Time of
operation
: 100 x
 : 20 Watts
: 72000
Joules
Amount of PCM required :
: given by a constant Nusselt number which is
Amount of PCM required : 327.27 g approx.
328 g
Above is the amount of PCM required to absorb
the heat from the processor at maximum
continuous output for 12 min .
Step 1 : Design Heat Sink for holding the PCM
and which will be attached to the processor.
The amount of PCM in system is 328 grams by
weight we need to find the volume it will acquire
. temperature it will hold that temperature till all
Density of PCM C25H52 is 0.7785 g/mL
source Alfa Aesar 30880
Volume = Density x Weight
Volume = 328/0.7785
= 421.32 ml / cm3 Approx 422 cm3
= 0.000422 m3
With 10% Fin Volume & 10% air gap the
internal cavity for holding PCM will be 120% of
designed fin volume at 506 cm3
The Design of the Heat sink will be based on the
Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) whose maximum
dimensions are B1 = 45 mm and B2 = 42.5 mm
with a maximum height of 100mm considering
the packaging constraints.
Inside cavity for holding PCM is 71mm x 71mm
x 100mm a symmetrical design will ensure even
distribution of heat in all directions.
Cavity Volume 7.1cm x 7.1cm x 10cm
: 505 cm3 = 505 cm3
Selection of Fin design : 11 Fin Rectangular
emerging from base all the way to the top barring
0.85mm clearance gap for air. 12 compartments
of 5mm width is created and fin size 7.1cm x
7.1cm x 0.85cm
To maintain the T Case Max of 85 C the
thermal gradient of the heat sink needs to be
reduced. Although Paraffin C25H52 has good
latent heat property it lacks thermal conductivity
which is 0.2W/mK as opposed to thermal
conductivity of Aluminium which is 230W/mK.
Heat transfer co-efficient
As the PCM absorbs energy and gets heated the
solid PCM near the aluminium casing interface
will first melt and the solid-liquid phase
boundary will keep moving away from the
surface of casing. Hence where the firstly the
heat transfer between the Aluminium casing and
PCM was conduction later going forward the
effect of convection becomes more and more
pronounced. The heat transfer co-efficient is
found to be 45.19 W/ m2 K as calculated during
the solidification of Paraffin wax
Nu = 0.133
Ra = Rayliegh number
= Thickness of storage material
L = Fin Length
As the PCM has low heat transfer co-efficient
which cannot be increased by increasing the flow
or Reynolds number as it is sealed from
atmosphere. Extended surfaces needs to be used
in the cavity to increase the heat flow between
the casing and the PCM. The PCM has a
characteristics that when it reaches melting
the PCM is melted thus acting as a heat sink and
the convection law can be applied upon it based
on the assumption that it is fluid which will act
as a heat sink.
The Fins that will be used are rectangular fins
with insulated tip as the tip is going to be
exposed to still air in the cavity that will act as a
insulation and the rectangular tip will be also
coated with insulation.
Rate of heat loss Q = √ ( ) tanh (
mL)
Here ,
P = Perimeter of cross-section of fin = 0.144m
H = Heat transfer co –efficient = 45.19 W/m2K
K = Thermal conductivity of fin = 230 W/mK
A = Cross section area of fin = 71 x m2
= Base temperature of fin
= Temperature of PCM = 57 C
L = Length of fin
First we have to calculate m = √ =
√ = 19.96
Total Heat to be absorbed = n x (heat transmitted
by the fins) + Heat transmitted by the unfinned
area.
Q = 10 x (√ ( ) tanh ( mL) ) +
h ( )
Q = 11 x (√
( ) tanh ( 19.96 x 0.0915) ) +
45.19 ( )
100W = 3.5859( ) + 1.47 ( )
=( )
= 19.77 +330
 = 349.77 K or 76.77C
The junction temperature thus obtained is 76.77
C which is in our limit of 85 C as per
theoretical calculations. The junction
temperature can be dropped further by increasing
the number of fins and contact area with the
PCM.

VI Numerical modeling
The solid melting model is conducted using a
fluent software. The Fluent uses enthalpy
porosity method instead of tracking the solid
liquid interface. The liquid solid zone is is
assumed to be porous zone with porosity equal to
the liquid fraction(Amount of liquid PCM)
We assume that a) Properties of PCM Paraffin
wax remain constant ideally b)The PCM is a
ideal Newtonian non-compressible fluid.
Energy Equation.
The enthalpy of PCM is tracked and it is Sum of
Sensible enthalpy (h) and the latent heat
Total heat/ Entalpy = h +
h= +∫
where = reference enthalpy
The PCM can be seen in the diagram . It starts
= reference temperature melting near the wall of the casing and slowly
= Specific heat at constant pressure. progresses towards the inside away from the
In Enthalpy porosity method liquid fraction of wall. The solid liquid interface moves away from
amount of liquid in PCM mixture is tracked by the wall. Ideally without the gravity
= Temperature at which PCM is consideration as in figure a1 it would be parallel
completely solid for Paraffin wax – 330 K to the wall but since gravity will play a role with
= Temperature at which PCM is density and since density of liquid paraffin wax
completely liquid for Paraffin wax – 333 K is less than solid it tends to rise upwards and we
By Tracking the termperature of PCM see accumulation of liquid PCM at the top . the
macroscopically we can calculate the liquid liquid PCM also has elevated temperature than
fraction at any given temperature (T) with a solid PCM. This modeling helps us to understand
formulae how the solid liquid interface moves in a PCM
= storage while melting. Initially the heat transfer
rate is slower due to low thermal conductivity of
Here = 0 T< PCM but as the liquid PCM fraction increases
=1 T> so does the convective heat transfer and overall
The latent heat at any given temperature can be heat transfer.
calculated by
= L where L is Experimental Setup :
latent heat of energy The Entire system includes a thermal storage
For Solid –Liquid Model the energy equation system unit ( heat sink with PCM ), a
can be written as temperature measuring device like Laser
thermometer or thermocouples placed to take
key temperature reading of Integrated heat
H is enthalpy Spreader IHS , Heat sink side panel readings at
= density Bottom and Top center also PCM temperature.
v = fluid velocity
S = Source temperature
 relatively higher melting temperature than
ambient the IHS will be initialized and brought
upto the melting temperature and hold in a
steady state for 6hrs and taking readings at the
interval of every 15minutes .We will then make
contact of thermal storage system with IHS and
the melting can start .We record the temperature
at interval of 30 Sec till all the PCM is Melted
and T > T liquidus.
As per the experiement the Temperature are
found to be.

Sr Time Temper Heat Heat Heat Hea Top Paraffin

no (m) ature of Sink Sink Sink t surf wax
IHS Side Side Side Sin ace Temp
Temp A B C k Te C
C (B1) (B2) (B1) Sid mp
Tem Temp Tem e C
p C C p C D(
B2)
Te
mp
C
1 12 84.5 81.2 81.8 82 80. 79. 62
6 5

The thermal Storage Unit (heat sink with PCM)

has Exterior dimensions of 75mm x 75mm x
104mm and 2mm thickness made up of
Aluminium 6061 material . The Heat Sink has 11
fins with 1mm thickness evenly spaced and
extending to a height of 91.5 mm . The exposed
sides of the heat sink as shown in diagram are
insulated adiabatically with small holes on
insulation exposing the bare heat sink so as to
provide access to taking temperature reading.
The sides of heat sink are insulated so as to
direct all the heat generated by the processor
towards the PCM.
The experimentation has four Steps :
a) Injecting liquid paraffin in the cavity of heat
sink of precise amount
b) Allow it to fully solidify with slight
subcooling to ensure 100% solidification.
c) Initializing Temperature field
d) Melting
In Injecting liquid paraffin the right amount of
paraffin is melted and poured into the cavity of
heat sink and it is subsequently reheated and
resolidified to ensure no bubble formation.
Because of the reason that paraffin wax has a
VII Results and Conclusion :
The readings in experimentation show a increase
in junction temperature as compared to heat
transfer calculation . The calculated value for
IHS and PCM ideally is 76.77 C but the average
recorded temperature is 81 which is 5.5% more.
This is due to the less than calculated heat
transfer coefficient of the Paraffin Wax and
although in calculations Radiation and
Convection loss from the outer surfaces is
neglected the the recorded temperature is thus
slightly lower than actual temperature due to this
heat losses from the surface. Though a error is
present it can be actually used to calculate the
junction temperature of the Electronic device
based on which the number and size of Extended
surfaces can be increased or decreased to achieve
suitable operating temperature.The Pin fin
volume at 18.11% w.r.t to the Volume of PCM.
VII. REFERENCES
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Department College of Engineering Thi-Qar
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mushtaq76h@gmail.com Hind Lafta Tbena
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[19]Using of phase change materials to enhance

the thermal performance of micro channel heat
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[20] Numerical method and model for

calculating thermal storage time for an annular
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[22]www.intel.com