Experimental Study of a Set of Integrated Cross-Media Heat Exchangers (iCMHXs) for Liquid Cooling in Desktop Computers

The present study is an experimental investigation of a set of five additively-manufactured compact, lightweight, low-cost, air-to-water cross-media heat exchangers suitable for liquid cooling applications in desktop computers, among other applications. The heat transfer between the two fluids is facilitated by solid metallic wires arranged in a staggered tube-bank configuration, in direct contact with both fluids separated by polymer walls. Since the liquid flows externally over the wires instead of flowing inside the tubes in conventional tube-bank fin heat exchangers, smaller wires can be used in iCMHXs, resulting in lighter and more efficient units. The additively-manufactured iCMHX units are post-processed using a conformal polyurethane sealant. The units are experimentally studied in two case studies based on their post-processing techniques. The experimental studies include instrumentation calibration as well as uncertainty analysis. The first case study considers three geometrically identical iCMHX units sharing the same post-processing method. The overall iCMHX performances characterized by the thermal and hydrodynamic parameters, such as thermal resistance and pressure drop for both waterside and airside, are compared. Their experimental results are also compared to 2D CFD predictions. To provide probable reasoning behind the differences in the comparisons, a second case study is then carried out by experimentally investigating two iCMHX units but with variable post-processing approaches such as by using a thinned sealant and by using a single layer of sealant.