Abstract
In this study, the cooling performance of Al2O3–H2O nanofluid was experimentally investigated as a much better developed alternative for the conventional coolant. For this purpose the nanofluid was passed through the custom-made copper minichannel heat sink which is normally attached with the electronic heat source. The thermal performance of the Al2O3–H2O nanofluid was evaluated at different volume fraction of the nanoparticle as well as at different volume flow rate of the nanofluid. The volume fraction of the nanoparticle varied from 0.05vol.% to 0.2vol.% whereas the volume flow rate was increased from 0.50L/min to 1.25L/min. The experimental results showed that the nanofluid successfully has minimized the heat sink temperature compared to the conventional coolant. It was noticed also that the thermal entropy generation rate was reduced via using nanofluid instead of the normal water. Among the other functions of the nanofluid are to increase the frictional entropy generation rate and to drop the pressure which are insignificant compared to the normal coolant. Given the improved performance of the nanofluid, especially for high heat transportation capacity and low thermal entropy generation rate, it could be used as a better alternative coolant for the electronic cooling system instead of conventional pure water.