Spray impingement cooling with single- and multiple-nozzle arrays. Part I: Heat transfer data using FC-72

• Published in: International journal of heat and mass transfer Vol. 48; no. 15; pp. 3167 - 3175
• Main Authors: Pautsch, A.G., Shedd, T.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2005; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Critical heat flux; Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Heat transfer; Integrated circuits; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Spray cooling; Spray cooling; Critical heat flux; Heat transfer; Multichip module; Test facility; Electronic packaging; Cooling system; Critical heat flow; Multiple jet; Heat transfer coefficient; Experimental study; Refrigerant fluid
• ISSN: 0017-9310; 1879-2189
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2005.02.012

With electronic packages becoming more dense and powerful, traditional methods of thermal energy removal are reaching their limits. One method of direct contact cooling capable of removing high heat fluxes while still being compact in size is spray impingement cooling, but its heat transfer behavior is not understood well enough to enable systematic, practical system design. This work presents the results of a large parametric study of spray cooling using a number of different nozzle patterns. It was found that nozzles that use the fluid most efficiently to remove thermal energy were limited by low peak heat fluxes and that the highest peak heat fluxes were obtained when phase change was avoided. Multiple nozzle arrays allowed for higher peak heat fluxes but used fluid inefficiently due to interactions between neighboring sprays. In general, the geometric pattern of the nozzle arrays had little effect on overall heat transfer performance.