Experimental studies of melting PCM in a heat sink

This project presents the experimental studies and findings of melting phase change material in a heat sink. The heat sink design that was the focus of this study is based on the pin finned heat sink design. Experiments mainly pertaining to the characteristics of the melting PCM in the heat sinks were observed and recorded to further understand the behaviours and characteristics of the melting PCM. A heat sink easily configurable into different fin configuration was fabricated with aluminum 6061 the preferred choice of material. The selected PCM for this project was Rubitherm RT-82, a paraffin wax based phase change material. A series of experiments were conducted ranging from half- filled PCM volume to fully filled PCM volume and also non-filled PCM volume. The experiments were also set-up with different number and configuration of pin fins in the heat sink. The results obtained in this experimental study showcase the effect of phase change material has on the performance of the heat sink used in this study. The results yielded shows that phase change material plays a significant part in improving the performance of the heat sink versus a non-PCM based one. The results were also conclusive in the showing the effects the number of fins in the heat sinks has on the performance of the heat sink with and without the PCM. The results yielded shows that an improvement of at least 20% was shown in the time taken for the base temperatures to reach 100°C when PCM was filled in the heat sink. The results from these experiments shows conclusive evidence the improvementin performance for the heat sink with PCM added.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering