Mechanical Engineering ETDs
Publication Date
Fall 12-17-2022
Abstract
During the past three years, miniature heat sinks have been integrated into the cooling loop of devices such as MW-class gyrotron resonators and high-power laser arrays. These applications involve high cooling rates in the range of 20-25 MW/m2. Liquid metals such as Na and NaK offer very high thermal conductivity in the range of 16-79 W/mK, while their dynamic viscosities are only slightly higher than water viscosity. They can also be used in applications with operating temperatures varying from 25 oC to as high as 800 oC due to their very high boiling points. Several research investigations have been conducted on liquid metals flow and heat transfer in different areas from the cooling of nuclear reactors to solar power systems. However, a few studies are available in the literature for heat transfer in miniature heat sinks cooled by liquid metals. More research work and investigations are still needed to study the details of flow and conjugate heat transfer within liquid metal-cooled miniature heat sinks. This work aims to fill this gap in the literature.
Keywords
Miniature heat sink, Liquid metals, high working temperature, high heat dissipation, Nusselt number, Conjugate heat transfer, Liquid metals, low Peclet Number
Degree Name
Mechanical Engineering
Level of Degree
Doctoral
Department Name
Mechanical Engineering
First Committee Member (Chair)
Dr. Nima Fathi
Second Committee Member
Dr. Yu-Lin Shen
Third Committee Member
Dr. Patrick McDaniel
Fourth Committee Member
Dr. Jens Lorenz
Document Type
Dissertation
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Pourghasemi, Mahyar. "On the effects of geometrical and fluid conditions on thermal-hydraulics of miniature heat sinks." (2022). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/me_etds/214
Comments
I have applied and requested for a two-year embargo on my dissertation