Investigation to Enhance the Performance of Computer Processor Cooling System

Abstract

In the recent past, cooling via thermoelectric technology has arisen to be as one of the capable cooling technology which helps in lowering the energy intake in a device. In this study, the performance enhancement of cooling system for the computer processor using thermoelectric cooler is investigated. An open loop cooling system was taken into consideration, where the main parameters are focused on computer load conditions, temperature carried by nanofluid or output temperature of nanofluid at water block and heat flux. The thermoelectric cooler (TEC) made of Bismuth Telluride (BiTe3) material for pn junctions is used with Delta Tmaxof 67°C in this analysis to extract the heat from processor. The Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) and copper oxide (CuO) ranging from 40nm - 50nm size dispersed in distilled water with various volume concentrations were used for dissipation of heat from the hot surface of the TEC. Liquid flow is varied from 0.1LPM - 0.9LPM. Results demonstrate that by maintaining the lower Delta Tmax value, higher Coefficient of performance (COP) is achieved. There is a considerable reduction in operating temperature of processor when using the nanofluids. Both the nanofluids exhibited higher thermal conductivity on comparing with base fluids. The enhancement observed in output temperature is about 15°C to 20°C by using nanofluids. Higher the flowrate used higher the heat flux generated.