Performance Evaluation of a Water-Channel-Assisted Heat Sink Utilizing Silicon dioxide and Water (SiO2-Water) Nanofluids

Abstract

The exponential increase in volumetric power density within contemporary electronic devices and high-performance energy systems has created critical thermal management hurdles, frequently overwhelming traditional cooling techniques. This experimental research investigates the thermal performance enhancement of a plate-fin aluminium heat sink integrated with a U-shaped liquid cooling channel, utilizing silicon dioxide and water (SiO2-water) nanofluids at volumetric concentrations of 1%, 2%, and 3%. Controlled thermal loads ranging from 10 W to 30 W were supplied via ceramic heating resistors, while K-type thermocouples monitored spatial temperature distribution across the base, top fins, and fluid outlet. Energy conservation principles governed the determination of coolant heat uptake, whereas Fourier’s law of heat conduction quantified solid fin heat dissipation. Experimental outcomes at a 30 W heat load demonstrated that using U-shaped water channel with pure water extracted 11.10 W, whereas the 1%, 2%, and 3% SiO2 nanofluids achieved enhanced heat absorption rates of 12.47 W, 13.67 W, and 13.86 W, respectively. Furthermore, fin conduction heat transfer improved from 8.57 W with pure water to 9.24 W, 10.80 W, and 9.91 W for the 1%, 2%, and 3% nanofluid concentrationsrespectively. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations performed in ANSYS Fluent correlated closely with physical measurements, showing deviations within a reliable 5–8% window. These results comprehensively confirm that dispersing silica nanoparticles significantly boosts convective heat transport and minimizes thermal resistance in hybrid compact cooling modules

Introduction

This study investigates the thermal performance of a water-channel-assisted plate-fin aluminium heat sink using SiO?–water nanofluids as advanced coolants. The research addresses the limitations of conventional water cooling in high-power-density electronic systems, where increasing heat loads can lead to excessive temperatures. SiO? nanoparticles were selected because of their good stability, availability, and ability to enhance the thermal conductivity and convective heat-transfer performance of water.

The experimental setup consisted of an aluminium plate-fin heat sink with a U-shaped internal water channel, a micro-centrifugal pump, ceramic electrical heaters, and temperature measurement instruments. Pure water and SiO?–water nanofluids with 1%, 2%, and 3% concentrations were tested at a heat input of up to 30 W and a constant mass flow rate of 0.00006 kg/s. The heat absorbed by the coolant was calculated using the energy-balance equation, while heat conduction through the fins was estimated using Fourier’s law. In addition, the heat-sink geometry and coolant flow were simulated using CATIA and ANSYS Fluent, with tetrahedral meshing and the SST k−ωk-\omega turbulence model. The reported difference between experimental and CFD results was within approximately 5–8%.

At 30 W, pure water absorbed approximately 11.10 W, while 1%, 2%, and 3% SiO?–water nanofluids absorbed 12.47 W, 13.67 W, and 13.86 W, respectively. Fin heat transfer increased from 8.57 W with pure water to 9.24 W, 10.80 W, and 9.91 W for 1%, 2%, and 3% SiO?, respectively. Consequently, the combined hybrid heat-transfer rate increased from 19.67 W for pure water to 21.71 W at 1%, 24.47 W at 2%, and 23.77 W at 3% SiO?.

The results indicate that adding SiO? nanoparticles improves heat removal and reduces the thermal resistance of the cooling system. The 2% SiO? concentration produced the best overall performance, achieving the highest fin heat-transfer rate and total heat-transfer rate. Although 3% SiO? provided slightly higher fluid heat absorption, its fin heat transfer decreased compared with the 2% concentration, indicating the influence of increased viscosity and flow resistance at higher nanoparticle concentrations.

Overall, the study demonstrates that combining nanofluid cooling with fin conduction provides a more effective hybrid thermal-management approach than pure-water cooling. A 2% SiO?–water nanofluid offers a favorable balance between enhanced thermal conductivity, heat absorption, and hydraulic performance, making it promising for compact electronic cooling and other high-heat-load applications.

Conclusion

This study successfully evaluated the thermal enhancements introduced by SiO2-water nanofluids within a plate-fin heat sink coupled with a U-shaped liquid channel under a 30 W input load. The results demonstrated that coolant heat absorption increased progressively from 11.10 W with pure water to a peak of 13.86 W at 3% nanofluid concentration, while solid-conduction heat transfer through the aluminium fins rose from an 8.57 W baseline to a maximum of 10.80 W at 2% concentration. These findings confirm that the dual cooling mechanisms—forced nanofluid convection and solid fin conduction—effectively lowered overall thermal resistance and promoted superior temperature uniformity across the assembly. Furthermore, CFD model validation showed close agreement with experimental trials, with discrepancies limited to within 5–8%. Ultimately, silica-water nanofluids emerge as a dependable, high-efficiency cooling alternative, offering strong potential for advanced electronic packaging and high-density thermal engineering environments.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Mohan Kumar Simma, Srinivasa Prasad Katrenipadu. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.