Shuva Das
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62025
Majid Molki
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL 62026, USA
This study introduces a simple approach to obtain a conjugate Nusselt number correlation for a central processing unit (CPU) cooler. The CPU coolers maintain an optimum operating temperature, which increases the CPU's longevity. The cooler studied in this model consists of a base plate, eight heat pipes, and many plate-fins. The heat collected in the base plate travels through heat pipes and plate fins, and it eventually transfers to the surrounding air. In this model, just a fin and its adjacent air space participate in the analysis. The grid study establishes the optimum settings for the computational model. In this investigation, the range
of heat-pipes temperature and Reynolds number are 35°C to 95°C and 100 to 2000, respectively. The dimensionless
parameter that affects the correlation is the Reynolds number associated with the airflow through the fins spacing. The working fluid is air with a Prandtl number of 0.7. The heat pipe temperature does not affect the conjugate heat transfer coefficient, and the Nusselt number is only a Reynolds number function at a fixed Prandtl number. The present computational model aims at providing a conjugate Nusselt number that is essential in the thermal design and optimization of CPU Coolers.