Smart Thermal Management Systems Based on Solid Liquid Phase Change Materials (PCM)

摘要

Phase change materials (PCM) absorb energy as latent heat as they undergo a reversible phase transition from solid to liquid. The PCM thus acts as a thermal capacitor. By selecting materials that have appropriate melting temperatures, PCMs can be used for transient thermal management applications that involve stepwise, as well as periodic loads. Two heat sink configurations incorporating a metallic PCM (Wood's metal; 50Bi/27Pb/13Sn/10Cd, Melting Point: 70.0℃) are studied in this paper: a plate fin heat sink and a pin fin heat sink. Thermal performance enhancements with PCM are experimentally and computationally evaluated. Experiments have been conducted under natural convection conditions, as well as in forced convection in the range of 0.5 ～ 5 m/s vising a wind tunnel. Constant thermal inputs over the range of 5 ～ 50 W were instantaneously applied using a heater element. Temperature measurements for the heat sinks incorporating PCM show an increased time to reach the maximum-targeted temperature of 90℃, starting from the ambient condition. The measurements show good agreement with computational predictions using an implicit enthalpy-porosity approach.