Numerical Study of a Cooling System Using Phase Change of a Refrigerant in a Thermosyphon

With the increasing trend toward the miniaturization of electronic devices, the issue of heat dissipation becomes essential. The use of phase changes in a two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT) enables a significant reduction in the heat generated even at high temperatures. In this paper, we propose a...

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Main Authors: Grzegorz Czerwiński, Jerzy Wołoszyn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/12/3634
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author Grzegorz Czerwiński
Jerzy Wołoszyn
author_facet Grzegorz Czerwiński
Jerzy Wołoszyn
author_sort Grzegorz Czerwiński
collection DOAJ
description With the increasing trend toward the miniaturization of electronic devices, the issue of heat dissipation becomes essential. The use of phase changes in a two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT) enables a significant reduction in the heat generated even at high temperatures. In this paper, we propose a modification of the evaporation–condensation model implemented in ANSYS Fluent. The modification was to manipulate the value of the mass transfer time relaxation parameter for evaporation and condensation. The developed model in the form of a UDF script allowed the introduction of additional source equations, and the obtained solution is compared with the results available in the literature. The variable value of the mass transfer time relaxation parameter during condensation r<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mi>c</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> depending on the density of the liquid and vapour phase was taken into account in the calculations. However, compared to previous numerical studies, more accurate modelling of the phase change phenomenon of the medium in the thermosyphon was possible by adopting a mass transfer time relaxation parameter during evaporation r<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mi>e</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 1. The assumption of ten-fold higher values resulted in overestimated temperature values in all sections of the thermosyphon. Hence, the coefficient r<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mi>e</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> should be selected individually depending on the case under study. A too large value may cause difficulties in obtaining the convergence of solutions, which, in the case of numerical grids with many elements (especially three-dimensional), significantly increases the computation time.
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spelling doaj.art-f111e433f78a4bdaaa5debbf7fdd3c522023-11-22T00:42:53ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732021-06-011412363410.3390/en14123634Numerical Study of a Cooling System Using Phase Change of a Refrigerant in a ThermosyphonGrzegorz Czerwiński0Jerzy Wołoszyn1Department of Power Systems and Environmental Protection Facilities, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicz 30 Av., 30-059 Krakow, PolandDepartment of Power Systems and Environmental Protection Facilities, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicz 30 Av., 30-059 Krakow, PolandWith the increasing trend toward the miniaturization of electronic devices, the issue of heat dissipation becomes essential. The use of phase changes in a two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT) enables a significant reduction in the heat generated even at high temperatures. In this paper, we propose a modification of the evaporation–condensation model implemented in ANSYS Fluent. The modification was to manipulate the value of the mass transfer time relaxation parameter for evaporation and condensation. The developed model in the form of a UDF script allowed the introduction of additional source equations, and the obtained solution is compared with the results available in the literature. The variable value of the mass transfer time relaxation parameter during condensation r<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mi>c</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> depending on the density of the liquid and vapour phase was taken into account in the calculations. However, compared to previous numerical studies, more accurate modelling of the phase change phenomenon of the medium in the thermosyphon was possible by adopting a mass transfer time relaxation parameter during evaporation r<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mi>e</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 1. The assumption of ten-fold higher values resulted in overestimated temperature values in all sections of the thermosyphon. Hence, the coefficient r<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mi>e</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> should be selected individually depending on the case under study. A too large value may cause difficulties in obtaining the convergence of solutions, which, in the case of numerical grids with many elements (especially three-dimensional), significantly increases the computation time.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/12/3634two-phase closed thermosyphonnumerical modelthermal resistancecomputational fluid dynamicsevaporation
spellingShingle Grzegorz Czerwiński
Jerzy Wołoszyn
Numerical Study of a Cooling System Using Phase Change of a Refrigerant in a Thermosyphon
Energies
two-phase closed thermosyphon
numerical model
thermal resistance
computational fluid dynamics
evaporation
title Numerical Study of a Cooling System Using Phase Change of a Refrigerant in a Thermosyphon
title_full Numerical Study of a Cooling System Using Phase Change of a Refrigerant in a Thermosyphon
title_fullStr Numerical Study of a Cooling System Using Phase Change of a Refrigerant in a Thermosyphon
title_full_unstemmed Numerical Study of a Cooling System Using Phase Change of a Refrigerant in a Thermosyphon
title_short Numerical Study of a Cooling System Using Phase Change of a Refrigerant in a Thermosyphon
title_sort numerical study of a cooling system using phase change of a refrigerant in a thermosyphon
topic two-phase closed thermosyphon
numerical model
thermal resistance
computational fluid dynamics
evaporation
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/12/3634
work_keys_str_mv AT grzegorzczerwinski numericalstudyofacoolingsystemusingphasechangeofarefrigerantinathermosyphon
AT jerzywołoszyn numericalstudyofacoolingsystemusingphasechangeofarefrigerantinathermosyphon