Title: Thermoeconomic considerations in the design and analysis of a finned heat sink array: the effect of material cost

Authors: Syed M. Zubair; Shahzada Shuja; S.Z. Shuja

Addresses: King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals KFUPM, Box # 1474, Dhahran 31261 ' King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals KFUPM, Box # 1474, Dhahran 31261 ' Mechanical Engineering Department, KFUPM Box No. 1474, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract: A detailed second-law based thermoeconomic optimisation is presented for a finned heat sink array. This involves including costs associated with material and irreversible losses due to heat transfer and pressure drop. The influence of important physical, geometrical and unit cost parameters on the overall finned array are optimised for some typical operating conditions that are representative of electronic cooling applications. The cost optimised results are presented in terms of Re_D, Re_L, ?_P/?_H, ?_m/λ_H, and q for a finned system. Furthermore, the methodology of obtaining optimum design parameters for a finned heat sink system that will result in minimum total cost is explained.

Keywords: thermoeconomic optimisation; optimisation; heat sink; finned arrays; heat transfer; pressure drop; electronic cooling; exergy; second law analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2011.043042

International Journal of Exergy, 2011 Vol.9 No.3, pp.370 - 387

Received: 13 May 2010
Accepted: 10 Mar 2011
Published online: 12 Oct 2011 *

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