Experimental and numerical study of a tube-fin cool storage heat exchanger

This study sought to examine the applications of tube-fin cool storage heat exchangers (CSHEs) in thermal control systems. To achieve the thermal control in electronic devices, the CSHE is filled with No. 28 paraffin phase change material (PCM) which is solidified by cooling water, ensuring the sustainable use of the CSHE. The graphene powder is blended with paraffin as a heat conduction enhancer. The thermal control performance of the CSHE during the melting–solidifying process is investigated experimentally and numerically. A series of experiments are carried out under various heat fluxes, graphene mass fractions, and cooling water flow rates. In addition, a three-dimensional mathematical model based on enthalpy–porosity and melting–solidifying models is established to investigate the distributions of the solid–liquid phase and temperature. Our results indicated that the thermal control time is increased by 114.8% at a heating power of 800 W. At the maximum heat flux of 1000 W, the heat control time of the CSHE under the 5%, 2.5%, and 0% components is 25, 29, and 40 min, respectively. During the solidification process, the addition of graphene powder can significantly increase the solidification rate.