Ireme Vol 6 N 4183-197

International Review of Mechanical Engineering (I.RE.M.E.), Vol. 6, N.
4
ISSN 1970 - 8734 May 2012
Manuscript received and revised April 2012, accepted May 2012 Copyright 2012 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved
871
Experimental Investigation on Thermosyphon Heat Sink
Integration Technology for CPU Cooling

Shanmuga Sundaram Anandan, Anirudh Bhaskaran, A. B. K. Rajan

Abstract A rapid increase in high performance devices built in Personal Computer (PC) to
enhance the processing speed of the Central Processing Unit (CPU) makes its thermal design
power to increase sharply. Hence, this paper discusses the concept of Indirect heat removal
technology which involves the use of a two phase working fluid to transfer heat from the heat
source to an ambient heat sink. Therefore, a cooling module in the form of Thermosyphon Heat
Sink Integration Technology (THSIT) is developed as a replacement for the conventional cooling
method (Direct heat removal). An experimental investigation was conducted to predict the
performance of a specific TPCT in which R-134a is employed as a working fluid. The experimental
work is conducted in both natural and forced convection situations. The forced convection heat
transfer is carried for various volumetric flow rates of air in order to have a better assessment of
the performance of the THSIT for various heat inputs. The analytical formulation is employed to
investigate the effect of variables on the performance evaluation of THSIT. This includes the
determination of the effectiveness using the thermal resistance model developed and comparing it
with the conventional cooling method (fan heat sink). It is found that there is an appreciable
improvement in the present model compared to the conventional one. Copyright 2012 Praise
Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved.

Keywords: Direct Heat Removal, Effectiveness, Fan Heat Sink, Thermosyphon Heat Sink
Integration Technology

Nomenclature
A, Acs Cross Sectional area of TPCT, m
2

Ab Area of base plate, m
2

ATP Area of thermal Pad, m
2

b Fin pitch (Evaporator), m
Cl Circumferential length, m
Cpl Specific Heat, Jkg
-1
K
-1
G Volumetric flow rate of air, CFM
H Height of the heat sink, m
Hf Fin height, m
h Heat transfer Coefficient, Wm
-2
K
-1
hfg Latent heat of vapourization, J/kg
k Thermal Conductivity, Wm
-1
K
-1
La Adiabatic length, m
Lb Length of base plate, m
Lc Condenser length, m
Le Evaporator length, m
N Number of TPCT
Nf Number of fins
P Saturation Pressure, bar
qe Heat Flux, W/m
2

Qin Heat Input, W
Qout Heat Output, W
Raxial Axial resistance of TPCT, K/W
Rboiling Evaporator Boiling Resistance, K/W
RBS Base to Sink Resistance, K/W
Rcond Film Condensation Resistance, K/W
RFA Fin to air resistance, K/W
RHB Heater to Base Resistance, K/W
RHS Heat Sink Thermal Resistance, K/W
RTF TPCT to fin resistance, K/W
Rtot

Total thermal resistance, K/W

Rtube,C Condenser side tube Resistance,
K/W
Rtube,E Evaporator side tube Resistance,
K/W
Sf Fin pitch (Condenser), m
Tb Base Temperature,
o
C
T
C
v
Condenser vapour Temperature,
o
C
T
E
v
Evaporator vapour Temperature,
o
C
Th Heater Temperature,
o
C
Ths Heat Sink Temperature,
o
C
TTPCT,in TPCT inner wall Temperature,
o
C
TTPCT,out TPCT outer wall Temperature,
o
C
Tamb, T Ambient Temperature,
o
C
Tw Tube wall temperature,
o
C
Raxial Axial resistance of TPCT, K/W

Greek letters
Effectiveness
Dynamic Viscosity, N s m
-2

Efficiency of the fin, %
Surface tension, N/m
Kinematic viscosity of the fluid, m
2
/s

A. Shanmuga Sundaram, B. Anirudh, A. B. K. Rajan
Copyright 2012 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved International Review of Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 6, N. 4
872
Density of the fluid, kg/m
3

Aspect ratio

Subscripts
a Adiabatic
b Base plate
C ,c, cond Condenser
E, e, evap Evaporator
cs Cross sectional
TP Thermal Pad
f fin
in Input
out Output
BS Base to Sink
HB Heater to Base
HS,hs Heat Sink
FA Fin to air
TF TPCT to fin
tot total
tube,E Evaporator tube
tube,C Condenser tube
sat Saturation
TPCT,in TPCT inner wall
TPCT,out TPCT outer wall
w wall
v Vapour

Superscripts
C Condenser
E Evaporator

Abbreviations
TPCT Two Phase Closed Thermosyphon
CFM Cubic Feet per Minute
TIM Thermal Interfacing Material
I. Introduction
Advances and rapid growth in the field of electronics
have resulted in a significant increase in density
integration, clock rates, increased functionality,
decreased form factors and emerging trend of
miniaturization of modern electronics. For example high
speed digital circuits employing submicron channel
lengths dissipating one milli watt per gate are available.
A very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit containing
10
5
such gates would have to dissipate 100W. This
resulted in dissipation of high heat flux at the chip level.
In order to satisfy the operating temperature requirements
in terms of performance and reliability, improvements in
cooling technologies is required. As a consequence,
thermal management has become more critical and
increasingly difficult for successful design of electronic
devices. The task of maintaining the operating
temperature within the limits is a challenge to the thermal
engineers due to the high heat load and the dimensional
constraints.
In many instances, thermal enhancement techniques
such as heat sinks are required to cool high density
microelectronic packages found in modern circuit boards
and other power sources within computers and electronic
enclosures.
It increases the effective surface area for heat transfer
and lower thermal resistance between source and sink.
Heat sinks can be operated under free or forced
convective modes depending on the cooling load
requirements.
Due to their inherent simplicity, reliability and low
long term costs, natural convection heat sinks have
proven to be instrumental in cooling single or multiple
chip circuit boards [1].
Studies of heat sinks performance are abound in
literature and it is broadly received in the references [2-
6]. Webb [7] identified that to solve the ever increasing
high heat flux generated by CPUs. The only approach is
to increase the fin surface and fan speed of the direct heat
removal heat sink.
However, increasing the surface area results in high
cost and fan speed boosting increases the noise, vibration
and power consumption. This results in dimensional and
cost constraint. An alternate approach to overcome this
problem is use of thermosyphon, heat pipes or heat sinks
with embedded heat pipes. Extensive literature on
cooling of electronics equipments using heat pipe is
available in articles [29]-[34].
II. Design of Experimental Setup
The design of the experimental setup includes the
design of TPCT, Parallel plate fins, Longitudinal U-
shaped fins and the fan selection.
II.1. Design of Two Phase Closed
Thermosyphon (TPCT)
TPCT was designed based on determining the
maximum stress in the form of circumferential and
Longitudinal stress induced at the flat end circular caps
due to the vapour pressure of the working fluid. It was
found out that the maximum stress calculated was less
than 1/4
th
of the ultimate stress of the TPCT.
We know that the operating condition of the TPCT is
greatly influenced by the thermo-physical properties of
the working fluid and the dimensions of the TPCT.
Hence we validated the TPCT dimensions with some
commonly accepted performance limitations.
The mass of the refrigerant to be filled inside the
TPCT is one of the most critical parts in the design
section and hence its been given the due importance.
The refrigerant employed for the present work is
R134a and its mass to be filled inside the TPCT was
found by calculating the fill ratio of the TPCT which is
the ratio between the actual volume occupied by the
liquid refrigerant to the volume of the evaporator section.
In order to avoid the dry out phenomenon in the tube
the fill ratio should be more than 50% as in this
experiment it was made to 84.3%.

873
II.2. Design of Heat Sink Evaporator Section
II.2.1. Estimation of Thermal Resistance of a
Parallel Plate Fin Heat Sink
In order to select an appropriate heat sink as shown in
Fig. 1, the thermal designer should determine the
maximum allowable heat sink thermal resistance, R
max
.
To do this it is necessary to know the maximum
allowable module case temperature, T
case
, the module
power dissipation, P
mod
, and the thermal resistance at the
module to heat sink interface, R
int
[8].

Fig. 1. Parallel plate fin heat sink configuration

The appropriate equations used to determine the actual
heat sink thermal resistance is given in Table I [8]. For
the assumed number of fins in the heat sink, the total
thermal resistance of the heat sink is found to be less than
the Maximum allowable thermal resistance of the heat
sink.
The effect of increasing the fin height and the number
of fins for a constant air velocity and constant volumetric
flow plays a major role in determining on how a heat
sink will actually perform for a specific application. To
do this it is necessary to estimate the heat sink pressure
drop characteristics and match them to the fan to be used.

TABLE I
HEAT SINK DESIGN PARAMETERS AND EQUATIONS
S.No
Heat Sink
Design
Parameters
Governing Equations
1 Maximum
allowable Heat
sink Resistance
R
mux
=
I
busc
-I
umb
n

2 Fin Pitch
b =
w-(N
]
t
]
)
N
]
-1
Assume N
I
= 24

3 Grashofs
Number
0r
b
=
g[b
3
I
y
2

4 Rayleigh
Number
Ro = 0r
b
Pr
5 Nusselt
Number
Nu
b
=
= u.Su8Pr
0.5
(u.9S2 +Pr)
-0.25
0r
b
0.25

6 Fin efficiency
p
]
=
tonb(mE
]
)
mE
]

7 Total Thermal
resistance of
the heat sink
R
tot
=
1
b
b
(A
b
+ N
]
p
]
A
]
)
+
E -E
]
k
b
A
b

II.2.2. Estimation of Thermal Resistance of a
Longitudinal U-Shaped Fins Condenser Section
In the present research work, the condenser side is
equipped with longitudinal u shaped fin as shown in
Fig. 2. The condenser section is subjected to forced
convection by providing a tube axial fan at the top with
maximum.

Fig. 2. Longitudinal U-shaped fin configuration

The appropriate equations to find the maximum
allowable thermal resistance and the total thermal
resistance of the longitudinal u-shaped fin are given in
the following Table II [8].
For the assumed number of longitudinal u-shaped fins
in the condenser, it was found that the total thermal
resistance of the fin is less than the
Maximum allowable thermal resistance of the fin.
II.2.3. Estimation of Pressure Drop Across the
Longitudinal U-Shaped Fins
The actual flow rate of air that will be drawn through
the longitudinal u shaped fin by a fan can be found out
by estimating the fin pressure drop as a function of flow
rate and match it to a curve of fan pressure drop verses
flow rate.
This method is done to predict the performance of the
given fin design for a particular application. A detailed
procedure of calculating the pressure drop on the
longitudinal fins was performed and given in Table III
[9].
II.2.4. Estimation of Flow by-Pass on the Longitudinal
U-Shaped Fins
This section aims at determining the actual air flow
that passes through the fin passages at the condenser
section in the presence of flow by pass. A ducted fan
assembly with a duct diameter D
d
is mounted on the
condenser section. The estimation of flow by-pass on the
longitudinal fins was performed and the by-pass flow
rate parameters and equations are given in the Table IV
[10], [11].

874
TABLE II
LONGITUDINAL U-SHAPED FIN DESIGN PARAMETERS
AND EQUATIONS
S.No
U-shaped fin
Design
Parameters
Governing Equations
1 Maximum
allowable fin
Resistance
R
mux
=
I
]n
- I
umb
out

2 Fin Pitch
b =
w -(N
]
t
]
)
N
]
-1

Assume N
]
= 12/tube
3 Modified
Reynolds
Number
Rc
b
-
=
pIb
p

b
I

4 Nusselt
Number
Nu
b
= |
1
[
Rc
b
Pr
2

3
+
+
1
_u.664Rc
b
Pr
0.33
_
1 +
S.6S
Rc
b
_
3
]
-0.33

5 Fin efficiency
p
]
=
tonb(mE
]
)
mE
]

6 Total Thermal
resistance of
the U-shaped
fin
R
tot
=
1
b
b
(A
b
+N
]
p
]
A
]
)
+
E -E
]
k
b
A
b

TABLE III
LONGITUDINAL U-SHAPED FIN PRESSURE DROP PARAMETERS
AND EQUATIONS
S.No.
Pressure drop
parameters
Governing equations
1 Pressure loss due
to sudden
contraction
K
c
= u.42(1 -o
2
)
2 Flow area ratio
o = 1 -
N
]
t
]
w

3 Pressure loss due
to sudden
expansion
K
c
= (1 -o
2
)
2

4 Friction factor
=
[
24 -S2.S27z +46.721z
2
-
4u.829z
3
+22.9S4z
4
-6.u89z
5
Rc

5 Apparent friction
factor
upp
=
__
S.44
I
-
]
2
+(Rc)
2
_
0.5
Rc

6 Pressure drop
P = _K
c
+4
upp
I
h
+K
c
]
py
2
2
z
7 Reynolds Number
Rc =
pI
h
p

From the above flow by-pass equations it was found
that for an air flow rate of 127 CFM the by-pass flow is
120 CFM. Therefore, the by-pass flow has to be reduced
by deviating the air flow through the fins by stuffing
some material in the gap between the duct and the fins
and making more amount of air to participate in the heat
transfer[14][15].
II.2.5. Fan Selection and Optimization
The pressure drop across the longitudinal fin curve for
72 fins at 8.3mm fin height is shown in Fig.3. The curve
which intersects the fan curve is the thermal resistance
curve for N
f
= 72 and G = 127CFM and H
f
= 8.3mm. The
operating point is found by superimposing the thermal
resistance curve of the system on the fan curve and the
intersecting points are called operating point or design
point for that particular fan. The tube axial fan used in
this research has a volumetric flow rate of 127CFM at
2000 rpm.
The operating point for this CFM value was found to
be 40CFM as shown in Fig. 4. For an air flow rate of
127CFM it was found sufficient to have 40CFM from the
superimposing method of thermal resistance curve on fan
curves.
TABLE IV
FLOW BY-PASS PARAMETERS AND EQUATIONS
S.No
Flow bypass
parameters
Governing Equations
1 Duct Area
A
d
=
n
d
2
4

2 Flow area
between the fins
A
]
= (C
L
-N
]
t
]
)E
]

3 By pass flow area
A
b
= A
d
-(
n
4

p
2
6)
4 Velocity of air in
the duct
I
d
=
-b +b
2
-4oc
2o

o = _
A
d
A
b
]
2

b =
-2A
d
A
]
I
]
A
b
2

c = -__1 -_
A
]
A
b
]
2
_ I
]
2
+
2gP
p
_
5 Total air flow
rate through the
duct
0
d
= I
d
A
d

6 Fin flow rate 0
]
= I
]
A
]

7 By pass flow rate 0
b
= 0
d
-0
]

Fig. 3. Pressure drop curve across the longitudinal fin
for various fin heights
III. Experimental Setup
The experimental module shown in Fig. 5 is the
prototype developed to cool the CPU and to accurately

875
quantify the heat dissipation from the heat sink. The
THSIT consists of three main sections namely: The
evaporator, Adiabatic and Condenser sections.
The evaporator section consists of 24 parallel plate
copper fins (1001000.8 mm
3
) and is bonded to the
copper base plate (1001006 mm
3
) which is in indirect
contact with the plate heater of 400W capacity.

Fig. 4. Fan/system curve interaction for G=77, 85,127,158 CFM

In order to reduce the contact thermal resistance
between the heater and base plate, a Thermal Interfacing
Material (TIM), T-250 having a thickness of 0.25mm
with a thermal conductivity of 1W/m-K and thermal
resistance of 0.49C/W is used in this setup. TIM has its
ability to change its physical characteristics when it
reaches the case operating temperature by filling the
interfacial air gaps and surface voids in the base plate
and heater surface.
As one surface of the heater is in full contact with the
TIM and other surfaces are insulated, it is assumed that
heat dissipated by the plate heater is uniformly
distributed to the heat sink. The heater is powered using a
dimmerstat and resulting in typical line voltage of 100V
at a current of approximately 0.7A such that the very low
current flow to the heater makes the lead loss in the wires
to be minimum.
Six TPCTs of 9.52 mm outer diameter, 7.92 mm
inner diameter and a wall thickness of 0.8mm were
bonded to each parallel plate fin in a staggered manner as
shown in Fig. 6.
Thus forming the evaporator section of 100mm length.
The adiabatic section has a chosen length of 50 mm and
the condenser section having a length of 150 mm is
bonded to the longitudinal u-shaped copper fins. About
12 fins are accommodated around the TPCT and making
a total of 72 fins in 6 TPCTs.
The condenser is kept inside the ducted air-fan
assembly where the cylindrical duct is of 90 mm
diameter & 150 mm height in length and a tube axial fan
with a flow diameter of 90 mm and 127 CFM of airflow
rate is fitted at the top of the duct such that it sucks air
from the bottom of the assembly and expels the hot air
outside.
III.1. Test Procedure
The experiments were conducted for both natural
convection and forced convection in which the former is
performed by varying the heat input Q
in
from 40-70W
with an increment of 10W. The later was carried out by
varying both heat input and the volumetric flow rate (102
CFM, 115 CFM, and 127 CFM). The objective of the
experiment is to study the axial variation of the TPCT,
heat sink and longitudinal u-shaped fins surface and
vapour temperatures.

Fig. 5. Schematic representation of THSIT

Fig. 6. Top view of THSIT

The temperatures at the surface of the thermosyphon
and the vapour temperatures at the corresponding
sections have been measured by 26 K-type Chromel-
Alumel thermocouples with a Teflon coating and the
readings were recorded by a data acquisition system.
Because of the small diameter of the thermocouple wires
and relatively large values of Q, conductive losses
through the leads were assumed to be negligible. Along
with the thermocouples the base plate temperatures were
measured using an infrared thermometer having an
accuracy of 2% with a resolution of 0.1
o
C up to 250
o
C at
three locations. The temperatures were measured in such
a way that the arithmetic averages of these values are
taken as the mean base plate temperature T
base
. Ambient
temperature is measured at one location in the test
environment. During testing, the uniform spreading of

876
heat along the surface of the base plate is validated (i.e)
the maximum temperature difference between the 3
measurements is less than the 10% of the average of the
base plate temperature. An air flow sensor was also
incorporated to measure the flow rate of the air from the
tube axial fan. The accuracy of the thermocouples was of
1.5
o
C up to 200
o
C. The accuracy of air flow
arrangement was 3% of full scale. All the tests were
performed under steady state conditions.
IV. Experimental Analysis
The axial variations of temperature and pressure of
THSIT have been recorded and plotted in the form of bar
charts and smooth curves for both natural and forced
convection.
IV.1. Experimental Analysis on THSIT
for Natural Convection
The bar charts shown in Figures 8, 11, 12, 15 have the
ordinate representing the surface temperature and the row
beneath the bars shows the TPCT numbers and fin
numbers respectively. Fig. 8 shows the steady state
surface temperature of TPCT for corresponding heat
inputs (40, 50, 60, 70W). It is observed that this mode of
representation of temperatures taken at equal intervals
enable us to compare and contrast the values for different
parameters and to study the response of each TPCT. It is
evident from the graph that the temperature distribution
is maximum at 70W heat input.
From all the temperature distributions on each TPCT
depicted on the graph shows that the maximum
temperature is attained at TPCT 4, 5 and 6 and minimum
at TPCT1. This behavior is due to the presence of TPCT
4, 5, and 6 nearer to the heater which receives more
amount of heat whereas the TPCT 1 receives the least
amount.
Fig. 9 shows the variation of fluid pressure at the
condenser section for corresponding heat inputs. The
pressures at TPCT 4, 5, 6 are ranging from 20-22 bar and
the pressure at TPCT 1 reads 7.5 bar. We know that for a
constant volume process the pressure and temperature is
directly proportional to each other and hence the trend
followed by the fluid pressure is same as the temperature.
Fig. 10 shows the temperature distribution along the
parallel plate fins in the evaporator section. The smooth
curves show that the temperature is maximum at the 16
th

fin than at other fin locations. The reason for this trend is
due the coil which is wound in the heater is in such a way
that it dissipates more heat at the middle section than at
the corners of the heater. Due to this occurrence it is
assumed previously that the heater dissipates heat
uniformly to the base plate. Fig. 11 shows the
temperature distribution of the condenser fin at three
locations and it is evident from the graph that the
temperature distribution is maximum at 70W heat input
and the maximum temperature was recorded from the
fins bonded to the TPCT 4, 5, 6 at the bottom section.
IV.2 Experimental Analysis on THSIT
for Forced Convection
This sections aims at describing the response of the
TPCT for the heat inputs of 40, 50, 60, 70W and the
volumetric flow rate of 127CFM. The steady state
surface temperature distribution on TPCT for G = 127
CFM shown in Fig. 12 conveys that the TPCT 4, 5, 6 has
maximum temperature and TPCT1 has minimum
temperature for the heat inputs of 40, 50, 60, 70W. The
reason for the trend is due to the positioning of the
TPCT6 nearer to the base plate and TPCT1 far from the
base plate. Moreover, since the condenser section is
exposed to forced convection there is an appreciable
reduction in the temperature at the condenser section
when compared to the natural convection.
The steady state fluid pressure of TPCT for G
=127CFM shown in Fig. 13 was recorded with a
maximum pressure on TPCT 4, 5, 6 and a minimum
pressure on TPCT1 at heat inputs of 40, 50, 60, 70W.
The fluid pressure has shown a decrease in value when
compared to the natural convection, which means more
amount of heat is removed from the condenser section
with a help of the ducted fan assembly. The steady state
temperature distribution on parallel plate fins is shown in
Fig. 14, from which it is evident that the maximum
temperature is reached at the base of the 16
th
fin and the
reason for this trend is same as that given for the natural
convection. The steady state temperature distribution on
longitudinal fins at the condenser section for the heat
inputs of 40, 50, 60, 70W at G=127CFM is shown in Fig.
15. From the temperature distribution it is evident that
the maximum fin temperature is at TPCT 4, 5, 6 and
minimum at TPCT1. The reason for this trend is that the
TPCT6 is placed near the base plate and hence the liquid
vaporizes quickly and receives more heat. Similarly, the
TPCT1 receives least amount of heat and transfers fewer
amounts to the condenser.
The ducted air-fan assembly draws air from the
bottom and passes over the fin such that the temperature
at the fin surface is lower and enhances the condensation
of vapor.
V. Performance Evaluation of the THSIT
The experimental results arrived from the analysis
were used to do the performance evaluation of the
THSIT for both natural and forced convection cooling.
Later, the above results were compared and validated
with the performance evaluation of the conventional heat
sink and fan.
The THSIT is evaluated by calculating the total
thermal resistance across the THSIT from which the
actual heat transfer is derived and which gives raise to
the effectiveness of THSIT:

R
tot
=
1
R
HB
+R
BS
+R
HS
+R
1P
+R
PA
+R
P

where:

877
R
P
=
_
1
1
R
uxuI
+
1
_
R
tubc,L
+ R
boIng
+R
P
+
+R
cond
+R
tubc,C
_
+
1
R
HA
_

(1)

Brief explanations on the corresponding thermal
resistances shown in Fig. 16 are given in the Table V
[12].
Actual heat transfer rate of the system can be
determined from the Eqs. (2) & (3) which includes the
latent heat received from the condensing vapour and the
sensible heat from the TPCT.
Maximum heat transfer is attained when the condenser
temperature is equal to the outside evaporator
temperature:

Iutcnt
=
I
L
-I
C
R
P
(2)

Sensible heat transfer due to the change in surface
temperature of TPCT:

scnsbIc
=
I
b
-I
R
tot
-R
HB
-R
boIng
-R
P
-R
cond
(3)

Actual heat transfer rate is given by:

uctuuI
=
Iutcnt
+
scnsbIc
=
=
I
L
-I
C
R
P
+
I
b
-I
R
tot
-R
HB
-R
boIng
-R
P
-R
cond

(4)

Effectiveness of the system is given by:

e =
Actual heat tiansfei
Naximumheat tiansfei

(5)

Fig. 7. Schematic layout of THSIT experimental setup

Fig. 8. Surface temperature of TPCT for natural convection

878

Fig. 9. Fluid pressure in TPCT
for natural convection

Fig. 10. Evaporator fin temperature
for natural convection

879

Fig. 11. Condenser fin temperature for natural convection

Fig. 12. Surface temperature of TPCT for forced convection

880

Fig. 13. Fluid pressure in TPCT for forced convection

Fig. 14. Evaporator fin temperature for forced convection

881

Fig. 15. Condenser fin temperature
for forced convection

Fig. 16. Thermal resistance network
of the Thermosyphon Heat Sink integrated system

882
TABLE V
THERMAL RESISTANCE EQUATIONS OF THE THSIT
S.no Thermal Resistance Equations
1 Heater to base conduction (TIM) resistance R
HB
=
t
1P
k
1P
A
1P

2 Base to Heat sink conduction resistance R
BS
=
I
b
k
b
A
b

3 Parallel plate fin Heat Sink conduction resistance [16] [18] R
HS
=
1
b(A
b
+N
]
p
]
A
]
)

4 TPCT tube radial resistance at evaporator section [24]
R
tubc,L
=
ln[
r
tubc,cxt
r
tubc,nt
,
2nk
tubc
I
c

5 Evaporative boiling convective resistance [24],[25]
R
boIng
=
1
b
cup
A
cup,nt
=
1
b
cup
n
nt
I
c
N

6 Heat sink to ambient convective resistance at evaporator section [19],[26] R
PA
=
1
b
u
N
]
p
]
A
]
= R
HA

7 TPCT tube axial resistance [20] R
uxuI
=
u.SI
c
+I
u
+u.SI
c
k
tubc
A
cs

8 Resistance due to pressure drop from evaporator to condenser section [23] R
P
=
T
sut
L
-T
sut
C
Iutcnt

9
Film condensation resistance at condenser section
[21],[27]
R
cond
=
1
b
cond
A
cond,nt
=
1
b
cond
n
nt
I
c
N

10 TPCT tube radial resistance at condenser section [24]
R
tubc,C
=
ln [
r
tubc,cxt
r
tubc,nt
,
2nk
tubc
I
C

11 U-shaped longitudinal fin conduction resistance [22] R
1P
=
1
b
b
(A
b
+N
]
p
]
A
]
)
+
E - E
]
k
b
A
b

12
Fin to ambient convective resistance at condenser
section [18],[26]
R
PA
=
1
b
u
N
]
p
]
A
]
= R
HA

VI. Results and Discussion
The aforementioned equations in the thermal
resistance network modeling section were used to
calculate the actual heat transfer rate and effectiveness of
the system with the average experimental values. The
Fig. 17 shows the graphical variation of total thermal
resistance versus the heat input for natural convection
and forced convection for air flow rate of 102, 115, 127
CFM respectively. The total thermal resistance of the
system for natural convection varies from 0.32K/W to
0.33K/W for the corresponding heat inputs. The total
thermal resistance of the system for forced convection
for the air flow rates of 102,115,127 CFM varies from
0.227K/W to 0.233K/W. The lowest thermal resistance
was found to be at 127CFM air flow rate at 70W heat
input. This shows that when heat input is increased, the
total thermal resistance of the system decreases by an
insignificant amount. The total thermal resistance is a
function of the following parameters:

R
tot
= _
1
,
1
b

1
N
]
,
1
A
,
1
p
]
_ (6)

As the heat input increases, the parameters described
in eq.(6) also increases proportionally and hence R
tot
decreases. Similarly, the Fig. 18 shows the graphical
variation of effectiveness of the system versus the heat
input for natural and forced convection for an air flow
rate of 102,115,127 CFM respectively. The effectiveness
of the system for natural convection varies from 0.69 to
0.636 for the corresponding values of heat inputs.
The effectiveness of the system for forced convection
for air flow rates of 102,115 and 127 CFM varies from
0.803 to 0.878 for corresponding heat inputs. The
maximum effectiveness of the system was to be 0.878 at
127CFm and 40W of heat input and the corresponding
thermal resistance of the system is 0.23K/W. The
effectiveness of the system is a function of both Qin and
R
tot
:

e = _
1
n
,
1
R
tot
_ (7)

From the results presented it can be inferred that the
effectiveness is inversely proportional to both Qin and
R
tot.

It is to be noted that, as the thermal resistance
decreases, effectiveness also decreases. This is because
the difference in heat input value influences more than
the total resistance value. The cooling module will
dissipate maximum amount of heat from the condenser to
the surroundings when the air flow rate along the
condenser is maximum.
A quantitative comparison on the conventional
cooling method and the present cooling method is given
in Table VI. The design specifications of the
conventional cooling module are of a Pentium IV
desktop CPU whose tube axial fan has a volumetric flow
rate of 8CFM [13].
Moreover, the present cooling module is a scaled up
model for experimental purpose and hence it required
higher CFM tube axial fan.

883

Fig. 17. Total thermal resistance of THSIT for various heat inputs

Fig. 18. Effectiveness of THSIT for various heat inputs

TABLE VI
QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON ON THE CONVENTIONAL COOLING METHOD AND THE PRESENT COOLING
System

Power,W
Conventional Heat Sink
Effectiveness
Thermosyphon Heat Sink Integrated System
Effectiveness
Forced Convection, 8CFM Natural Convection Forced Convection, CFM

40
50
60
70

0.65
0.62
0.59
0.56

0.69
0.652
0.641
0.636
127 115 102
0.878
0.869
0.832
0.812
0.874
0.875
0.826
0.81
0.87
0.864
0.825
0.803

VII. Conclusion
An experimental investigation was performed to
predict the performance of a TPCT under varying
operating conditions. The development of the present
Thermosyphon Heat Sink Integration Technology
(THSIT) is based on a specific maximum operating
conditions using R-134a as a working fluid. In the
system studied, the plate heater is analogous to the CPU
heat dissipater and it is bonded to one side of a copper
plate-fin assembly. Experiments were conducted on
THSIT in both natural and forced convection with ducted
air-fin assembly on condenser section. The measured

884
experimental results indicated that under natural
convection, the total thermal resistance of the cooling
module for a heat dissipation of 70W at 80C is 0.33K/W
and the effectiveness is 0.63. During the forced
convection cooling it was found that the total thermal
resistance of the cooling module with a heat dissipation
of 70W at 60C and a volumetric flow rate of air at
127CFM is 0.228K/W. For this mode of operation the
effectiveness is 0.81. The above results when compared
to the conventional cooling fan heat sink method (in the
absence of TPCT) having a thermal resistance of
0.55K/W and effectiveness of 0.56 at a heat dissipation
of 70W at 80C, shows the maximum heat transport
capacity of the present system. The natural convectional
cooling of THSIT shows an enhancement of 7% in
thermal performance when compared to conventional
cooling method and the forced convection cooling
provides a 25% increase in thermal performance. The
results obtained from experimental studies indicated that
as the heat input value increases, both the thermal
resistance and effectiveness decreases in a very small
amount. Thus in order to enhance the performance of the
cooling module, attention has to be taken on dominating
individual resistances that constitute the R
tot
, such as the
resistance of power input to the evaporator and the
resistance on the condenser side.
Acknowledgements
We take immense pleasure to express our gratitude to
the management of Rajalakshmi Institute of Technology
for their cooperation and encouragement for the
completion of this research. We would like to express
our special gratitude and thanks to Dr.R.V.Seeniraj for
extending his technical expertise in completing this
research.
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Authors information
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajalakshmi Institute of
Technology, Chennai 600124, Tamil Nadu, India

A. Shanmuga Sundaram is a citizen of India,
born in Vellore, Vellore District, Tamilnadu on
June 26, 1978. He received his Bachelors
degree in Mechanical Engineering with First
Class in the year 1999 from the Bharathiar
University, Tamilnadu. He obtained his
Masters degree with First Class in the field of
Thermal Engineering from the University of
Madras, Tamilnadu in the year 2000. He received his PhD at Anna
University, Chennai in 2009. He is currently working as a Professor
and Head of Mechanical Engineering at Rajalakshmi Institute of
Technology, Chennai, India. His research interests are thermal
management of electronics, thermal energy storage and heat transfer.

B. Anirudh is a citizen of India, born in
Kumbakonam, Tanjore District, Tamilnadu on
March 28, 1988. He received his Bachelors
degree in Mechanical Engineering with First
Class in the year 2009 from the Anna
University, Chennai. He is about to complete
his M.E. in the Department of Energy
Engineering at PSG College of Technology,
Coimbatore, India. His research interest is concerned primarily with
energy, exergy and exergoeconomic analyses of various types of energy
systems.

A. B. K. Rajan is a citizen of India, born in
Chennai, Chennai District, Tamilnadu on March
11, 1974. He received his Bachelors degree in
Mechanical Engineering with First Class in the
year 1995 from the University of Madras,
Tamilnadu. He obtained his Masters degree
with First Class in the field of Thermal
Engineering from the Sathyabama University,
Tamilnadu in the year 2008. He is pursuing his PhD at Anna University
Technology, Chennai. He is currently working as an Assistant
Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Rajalakshmi Institute of
Technology, Chennai, India. His research interests are thermal
management of buildings, thermal energy storage and heat transfer.

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