Performance analysis of supercritical carbon dioxide as a coolant in cold plate systems

Nowadays, effective thermal management of heat-generating equipment, like batteries and electronic components, has become an increasingly significant challenge in modern engineering. Addressing this issue requires the development of cooling systems featuring innovative designs and effective coolants. This research proposes supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) as a novel coolant for cold plates. Additionally, it introduces innovative serpentine tube designs, which are crucial for the effective thermal management of devices with non-uniform temperature distributions. Serpentine tubes are designed with four distinct configurations, incorporating either a gradual increase or decrease in the length of the straight sections, or a combination of both. Results show that these configurations facilitate targeted cooling and allow for a controllable temperature distribution across the cold plate. The design with gradually increasing straight sections shows the highest heat absorption rate, while the design with gradually decreasing straight sections results in the lowest pumping power. Parametric analysis indicates that optimizing operating conditions near pseudocritical points enhances overall performance. Pressure is the most critical factor for heat extraction. At 7.5 MPa, the performance index reaches its maximum, more than doubling compared to higher pressures. Finally, SCO2-based systems outperform conventional systems, increasing the heat absorption rate up to 23.5 % while reducing pumping power.