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Efficient thermal management of central processing unit (CPU) cooling systems is vital in the context of advancing information technology and the demand for enhanced data processing speeds. This study aims to explore the thermal performance of a CPU cooling setup using a cylindrical porous metal foam heat sink.

Nanofluid flow through the metal foam is simulated using the Darcy–Brinkman–Forschheimer equation, accounting for magnetic field effects. The temperature distribution is modeled through the local thermal equilibrium equation, considering viscous dissipation. The problem’s governing partial differential equations are solved using the similarity method. The CPU’s hot surface serves as a solid wall, with nanofluid entering the heat sink as an impinging jet. Verification of the numerical results involves comparison with existing research, demonstrating strong agreement across numerical, analytical and experimental findings. Ansys Fluent® software is used to assess temperature, velocity and streamlines, yielding satisfactory results from an engineering standpoint.

Investigating critical parameters such as Darcy number (10⁻⁴ ≤ Da_D ≤ 10⁻²), aspect ratio (0.5 ≤ H/D ≤ 1.5), Reynolds number (5 ≤ Re_D,bf ≤ 3500), Eckert number (0 ≤ EC_bf ≤ 0.1) , porosity (0.85 ≤ ε ≤ 0.95), Hartmann number (0 ≤ Ha_D,bf ≤ 300) and the volume fraction of nanofluid (0 ≤ φ ≤ 0.1) reveals their impact on fluid flow and heat sink performance. Notably, Nusselt number will reduce 45%, rise 19.2%, decrease 14.1%, and decrease 0.15% for Reynolds numbers of 600, with rising porosity from 0.85 to 0.95, Darcy numbers from 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻², Eckert numbers from 0 to 0.1, and Hartman numbers from 0 to 300.

Despite notable progress in studying thermal management in CPU cooling systems using porous media and nanofluids, there are still significant gaps in the existing literature. First, few studies have considered the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer equation, which accounts for non-Darcy effects and the flow and geometric interactions between coolant and porous medium. The influence of viscous dissipation on heat transfer in this specific geometry has also been largely overlooked. Additionally, while nanofluids and impinging jets have demonstrated potential in enhancing thermal performance, their utilization within porous media remains underexplored. Furthermore, the unique thermal and structural characteristics of porous media, along with the incorporation of a magnetic field, have not been fully investigated in this particular configuration. Consequently, this study aims to address these literature gaps and introduce novel advancements in analytical modeling, non-Darcy flow, viscous dissipation, nanofluid utilization, impinging jets, porous media characteristics and the impact of a magnetic field. These contributions hold promising prospects for improving CPU cooling system thermal management and have broader implications across various applications in the field.

One of the major challenges in the design of thermal equipment is to minimize the entropy production and enhance the thermal dissipation rate for improving energy efficiency of the devices. In several industrial applications, the structure of thermal device is cylindrical shape. In this regard, this paper aims to explore the impact of isothermal cylindrical solid block on nanofluid (Ag – H₂O) convective flow and entropy generation in a cylindrical annular chamber subjected to different thermal conditions. Furthermore, the present study also addresses the structural impact of cylindrical solid block placed at the center of annular domain.

The alternating direction implicit and successive over relaxation techniques are used in the current investigation to solve the coupled partial differential equations. Furthermore, estimation of average Nusselt number and total entropy generation involves integration and is achieved by Simpson and Trapezoidal’s rules, respectively. Mesh independence checks have been carried out to ensure the accuracy of numerical results.

Computations have been performed to analyze the simultaneous multiple influences, such as different thermal conditions, size and aspect ratio of the hot obstacle, Rayleigh number and nanoparticle shape on buoyancy-driven nanoliquid movement, heat dissipation, irreversibility distribution, cup-mixing temperature and performance evaluation criteria in an annular chamber. The computational results reveal that the nanoparticle shape and obstacle size produce conducive situation for increasing system’s thermal efficiency. Furthermore, utilization of nonspherical shaped nanoparticles enhances the heat transfer rate with minimum entropy generation in the enclosure. Also, greater performance evaluation criteria has been noticed for larger obstacle for both uniform and nonuniform heating.

The current numerical investigation can be extended to further explore the thermal performance with different positions of solid obstacle, inclination angles, by applying Lorentz force, internal heat generation and so on numerically or experimentally.

A pioneering numerical investigation on the structural influence of hot solid block on the convective nanofluid flow, energy transport and entropy production in an annular space has been analyzed. The results in the present study are novel, related to various modern industrial applications. These results could be used as a firsthand information for the design engineers to obtain highly efficient thermal systems.