DESIGN OF MINIATURE VAPOUR COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONICS COOLING

Abstract

There is an increase in power consumption and thermal dissipation as the number of transistors in a semiconductor device increase. As chip power increases, existing passive heat dissipation methods become outmoded, necessitating the use of novel active cooling approaches. So, the removal of heat radiated from computer chips has become a critical difficulty in the design of portable and other space-limited electronic devices. The cooling capacity of widely used passive cooling methods (heat sink, heat pipe, and vapour chamber) is limited. Therefore, new active cooling methods are needed. Among numerous novel active chilling techniques, the Vapour Compression Refrigeration (VCR) system is the foremost technology. With the development of micro technologies, the refrigeration systems can be miniaturized and integrated to yield compactness, lightness, high performance and cost-effectiveness. This report presents a design and model development of miniature VCR system for electronic cooling. The miniaturized VCR system model was developed using CATIA V5 software. The model included a reciprocating compressor, condenser, capillary tube, accumulator, cold plate, and a hot plate (heat sink). The model of the small VCR system was simulated using DWSIM software. The dimensions and the cooling capacity of the miniaturized VCR system were found as 625´240´475 mm³ and 1kW respectively. The VCR system showed coefficient of the performance (COP) as 2.2, the mass flow rate of refrigerant R134a as 0.007 kg/s, cold plate temperature (inlet temperature of the evaporator) as -26.25°C and adiabatic efficiency of the compressor (AEC) equal to 75.09%. The calculated values of all the parameters were comparable to the simulated values. The present design of VCR is as ideal miniature cooling system is considered as cost effective and for its ability to transport heat away from its source.