High Power Cooling with Dynamic Phase Change Materials

(20:44 + Q&A) William P. (Bill) King, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
From the 2024 IEEE Symposium on Reliability for Electronics and Photonics Packaging
Summary: Phase change materials (PCMs) present opportunities for efficient thermal management due to their high latent heat of melting. However, a fundamental challenge for PCM cooling is the presence of a growing liquid layer of relatively low thermal conductivity melted PCM that limits heat transfer. Dynamic phase change material (dynPCM) uses an applied pressure to pump away the melt layer and achieve a thin liquid layer, ensuring high heat transfer for extended periods. This talk describes the dynPCM concept and fundamental investigations into heat transfer during dynPCM. We show that dynPCM has one to two orders of magnitude improvement in both power density and energy density compared to conventional PCMs. The talk also describes how dynPCM can be integrated with high power electronic systems, providing transient cooling that can match transient operation of the electronics. Finally, the talk describes integration of dynPCM with conventional liquid-cooled cold plates for the purpose of providing both high power transient cooling along with efficient steady cooling from the cold plate.
Bio: William P. King, Ph.D. is Professor and Ralph A. Andersen Endowed Chair in the Departments of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is an affiliate faculty member in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Dr. King’s research focuses on manufacturing and advanced materials, heat transfer, and micro/nanotechnology. Dr. King has published 285 journal articles and holds 23 U.S. patents. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Physical Society (APS), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), SME International (formerly Society of Manufacturing Engineers), and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

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