Experimental study on two-phase heat transfer performance of integrated compact spray cold plate

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering Vol. 255; p. 123948
• Main Authors: Fu, Hao, Chen, Hua, Zheng, Lei, Zhao, Rui, Han, Lincheng, Liu, Jun, Cheng, Wen-long
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.10.2024
• Subjects: Closed loop; Integrated cold plate; Spray cooling; Temperature control; Spray cooling; Integrated cold plate; Closed loop; Temperature control
• ISSN: 1359-4311
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.123948

•A novel integrated compact spray cold plate (SCP) was design for thermal control with high heat flux.•High flow rate can increase the critical heat flux but decrease the spray cooling efficiency.•The phase change ensures the temperature uniformity of the SCP under high heat flux in nuclear boiling.•Controlling chamber pressure in a compact space has fast temperature control speed and a wide temperature range. With the escalating demand for thermal management in optoelectronic, electronic, and power systems, there is an urgent need for practical spray cooling system with integrated structural thermal control. This paper presents two-phase heat transfer coefficient and temperature control method of SCP, a novel integrated compact spray cold plate that incorporates multiple swirl cavities and nozzle holes into a 9 mm thick cold plate. This spray cold plate eliminates the need for separate nozzle installations and achieves integrated structural thermal control. The system regulates the chamber pressure of the SCP by controlling the outlet flow resistance to effectively manage the temperature of the heat source. The effect of the main operating parameters in terms of volume flow (from 28.8 to 60.5 L/h), heat load (from 0.3 to 1.5 kW) and chamber pressure (from 347 to 693 kPa) was analyzed and discussed for the heat transfer coefficient and temperature control. The findings suggest that large flow rate and high subcooling will enhance convective heat transfer, but may delay nucleate boiling and reduce the spray cooling efficiency. The nucleate boiling, can improve the uniformity of temperature control on SCP under high heat flux. Further experiments show that for two-phase heat exchange in a compact space, controlling chamber pressure is the most effective temperature control method, offering wide-ranging control capabilities with rapid responsiveness.