Session: Research Posters

Paper Number: 173996

Development and Evaluation of Novel Eutectic Pcms for Thermal Management Applications 

Electronic devices are crucial in sectors such as the military, telecommunications, aerospace, and data centers. Overheating in these devices can cause irreversible damage or malfunction, making thermal management essential for reliability and longevity. Phase change materials (PCMs) can provide efficient thermal management solutions by absorbing heat at nearly constant temperature and thus ensure minimal temperature fluctuations. When employed in electronic devices thermal management, the selection of the right PCM with appropriate thermophysical properties is extremely crucial because it directly affects the effectiveness of thermal management. There are two main criteria on which a PCM is usually selected: melting temperature and latent heat. However, phase change temperature is considered a primary factor over latent heat as a selection criterion, as it is related to temperature control. A material phase change temperature must be selected carefully because if it is too high, then it will not melt before the device reaches its critical temperature. Similarly, if it is too low, then it will fully transition to the liquid phase and will no longer absorb the additional heat near the critical temperature of the device. Therefore, matching the phase change temperature to the device’s thermal management needs that the PCM melts at the right time when needed and utilizes the full thermal energy storage capacity.

Eutectic PCMs provide a tailored melting temperature for a specific application. Though pure PCMs have high latent heats, however, they are not always ideal because their melting temperature may not align with the operating temperature of the system. It means, the latent heat of the PCM becomes thermally inaccessible, and the PCM becomes practically of no use despite high latent heat values.

In this work, a novel eutectic PCM based on stearic acid (SA) and myristic acid (MA) was specifically developed for electronic devices thermal management. The eutectic point and mass composition were predicted using the Schroeder equation and verified using the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The chemical structure was assessed using a Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR). This research fills a significant gap in the existing options of PCMs by providing a melting temperature range of 45-50°C. The practical application of this eutectic PCM in the electronic devices thermal management was experimentally investigated using a customized experimental setup. Under different power levels of 125W,135W, and 145W, the eutectic PCM effectively extended the time taken for the devices to get to the critical temperature of 65°C by 1.13, 1.25, and 1.31 times, respectively, in comparison to the tests without PCMs. Overall, this research demonstrates that developed eutectic PCM has substantial potential in enhancing the thermal management of electronic devices.

 

Presenting Author: Muhammad Ghufran University of Arkansas

Presenting Author Biography: Muhammad Ghufran is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arkansas. His research area focuses on PCMs and encapsulated PCMs for thermal management applications.

Authors:

Muhammad Ghufran University of Arkansas
Logan Keehn University of Arkansas
David Huitink University of Arkansas