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Melting of PCMs Embedded in Copper Foams: An Experimental Study

A smart possible way to cool electronics equipment is represented by passive methods, which do not require an additional power input, such as Phase Change Materials (PCMs). PCMs have the benefit of their latent heat being exploited during the phase change from solid to liquid state. This paper exper...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Diani, Andrea, Rossetto, Luisa
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7961938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33806261
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma14051195
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author Diani, Andrea
Rossetto, Luisa
author_facet Diani, Andrea
Rossetto, Luisa
author_sort Diani, Andrea
collection PubMed
description A smart possible way to cool electronics equipment is represented by passive methods, which do not require an additional power input, such as Phase Change Materials (PCMs). PCMs have the benefit of their latent heat being exploited during the phase change from solid to liquid state. This paper experimentally investigates the melting of different PCMs having different melting temperatures (42, 55 and 64 °C). Two copper foams, having 10 PPI and relative densities of 6.7% and 9.5%, i.e., porosities of 93.3% and 90.5%, respectively, are used to enhance the thermal conductivity of PCMs. The block composed by the PCM and the copper foam is heated from one side, applying three different heat fluxes (10, 15 and 20 kW m(−2)): the higher the heat flux, the higher the temperature reached by the heated side and the shorter the time for a complete melting of the PCM. The copper foam with a relative density of 9.5% shows slightly better performance, whereas the choice of the melting temperature of the PCM depends on the time during which the passive cooling system must work. The effect of the foam material is also presented: a copper foam presents better thermal performances than an aluminum foam with the same morphological characteristics. Finally, experimental dimensionless results are compared against values predicted by a correlation previously developed.
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spelling pubmed-79619382021-03-17 Melting of PCMs Embedded in Copper Foams: An Experimental Study Diani, Andrea Rossetto, Luisa Materials (Basel) Article A smart possible way to cool electronics equipment is represented by passive methods, which do not require an additional power input, such as Phase Change Materials (PCMs). PCMs have the benefit of their latent heat being exploited during the phase change from solid to liquid state. This paper experimentally investigates the melting of different PCMs having different melting temperatures (42, 55 and 64 °C). Two copper foams, having 10 PPI and relative densities of 6.7% and 9.5%, i.e., porosities of 93.3% and 90.5%, respectively, are used to enhance the thermal conductivity of PCMs. The block composed by the PCM and the copper foam is heated from one side, applying three different heat fluxes (10, 15 and 20 kW m(−2)): the higher the heat flux, the higher the temperature reached by the heated side and the shorter the time for a complete melting of the PCM. The copper foam with a relative density of 9.5% shows slightly better performance, whereas the choice of the melting temperature of the PCM depends on the time during which the passive cooling system must work. The effect of the foam material is also presented: a copper foam presents better thermal performances than an aluminum foam with the same morphological characteristics. Finally, experimental dimensionless results are compared against values predicted by a correlation previously developed. MDPI 2021-03-04 /pmc/articles/PMC7961938/ /pubmed/33806261 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma14051195 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Diani, Andrea
Rossetto, Luisa
Melting of PCMs Embedded in Copper Foams: An Experimental Study
title Melting of PCMs Embedded in Copper Foams: An Experimental Study
title_full Melting of PCMs Embedded in Copper Foams: An Experimental Study
title_fullStr Melting of PCMs Embedded in Copper Foams: An Experimental Study
title_full_unstemmed Melting of PCMs Embedded in Copper Foams: An Experimental Study
title_short Melting of PCMs Embedded in Copper Foams: An Experimental Study
title_sort melting of pcms embedded in copper foams: an experimental study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7961938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33806261
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma14051195
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