Phase Change Materials for Better Thermal Performance of Central Processing Units (CPUs)

Nowadays, the small size of electronic components causes an increase in the heat flux that is dissipated at their surfaces, consequently, efficient cooling systems are required to improve reliability, prevent premature failure as well as keep components within permissible operating temperature limits. Most electronic devices use forced air-cooling which nowadays is somehow not adequate or even enough to keep the system cool. This study is aimed at investigating a passive cooling technique using the phase change material (PCM) type (RT35HC) to absorb the generated heat at the CPU of a personal computer and keep its surface temperature within an acceptable range. To do so, a set of 20 experiments were conducted where four different amounts of the PCM (20, 40, 60, and 80g) were subjected to five levels of dissipated heat (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50W). The results showed using RT35HC regardless of its amount enhanced the thermal performance of the CPU and provided a longer operating period while keeping the CPU surface temperate constant for low levels of dissipated heat (10-20W). On the other hand, increasing the PCM amount could help in providing a better thermal performance of the CPU that dissipated a higher amount of heat (30-50W) compared to thermal performance without using the PCM. The optimum amount of the PCM that can be used for passive cooling of the CPU was found to be 60g.