Experimental investigation on heat pipes supported by soy wax and lauric acid for electronics cooling

This paper presents an experimental study of heat pipes for electronics cooling that were supported by energy storage materials (i.e. phase change materials - PCMs) coated at the adiabatic section. The PCMs utilized included two materials, namely lauric acid and soy wax, the latter being considered as a more cost-effective alternative. The study focused on three different powers: 20 W, 25 W, and 30 W. Both heating, cooling, and thermal cycling experiments were performed in order to compare the thermal performance of cooling units. The experimental results showed that the incorporation of lauric acid as a thermal energy storage material reduced the maximum temperature by 11.6 %, 14.6 %, and 14.5 % for the examined powers. On the other hand, the utilization of soy wax resulted in temperature reductions of 4.3 %, 6.3 %, and 6.8 %. Furthermore, it was observed that lauric acid could store 25 % of the energy during the maximum power dissipation test, whereas soy wax could store 12 %. It was shown that lauric acid improved the thermal performance of the unit by approximately twice as effectively as soy wax. However, it is noteworthy that soy wax exhibits a significantly lower cost, making it a potentially viable alternative for less demanding applications where cost considerations are crucial.