Modeling on heat transfer behavior of carbon-based nanofluids for electronics cooling applications

A detailed approach on the mathematical modeling of the heat transfer behavior of carbon-based nanofluids (i) Mono nanofluids (Graphene nanoplatelets/H2O), (ii) Hybrid nanofluids (Graphene nanoplatelets and Multi-walled carbon nanotubes/H2O) using the RSM approach has been carried out in this study. The heat transfer parameters are evaluated experimentally using a data reduction technique. A mathematical model has been created using RSM for heat sink base temperature as a function of volume fraction, heat flux, mass flow rate, heat sink base area, and pressure drop across the microchannels. No work has been done so far regarding the mathematical model for carbon-based hybrid nanofluids in a microchannel heat sink. The evaluation of heat sink base temperature mathematically as a function of five primary variables is quite distinct from other RSM models, which strengthens the novelty of the current study. Mathematically, the maximum drop in base temperature experienced with hybrid nanofluids is 14.2°C as against 8.1°C with mono nanofluids at the applied heat flux of 222.23 kW/m2 (200W). Hence, the hybrid nanofluids are superior as compared to mono nanofluids. Under the applied heat flux, the maximum and the minimum deviation are 12.48% and 0.2%. The proposed model predicts the heat sink base temperature within a 14% error band while 95% of the data are within a 10% error band. With this strong validation of the proposed model, the base temperature of the heat sink at any intermediate operating points of the considered variables can be predicted without experimentation.