Calculation the Loads for water cooling system

This article presents basic equations for liquid cooling and

provides numerical examples on how to calculate the loads in a
typical liquid cooling system. When exploring the use of liquid
cooling for thermal management, calculations are needed to
predict its performance. While it is often assumed that a liquid
coolant itself dissipates heat from a component to the ambient, this
is not the case. A closed loop liquid cooling system requires a
liquid-to-air heat exchanger. Because of its structure, several
equations must be calculated to fully understand the performance
and behavior of a liquid cooled system.
For this article we consider a liquid cooling system as a closed loop
system with three major components: cold plate, heat exchanger
and pump. The cold plate is typically made from aluminum or
copper, and is attached to the device being cooled. The plate
usually has internal fins which transfer heat to the coolant flowing
through them. This fluid moves from the cold plate to a heat
exchanger where its heat is transferred to the ambient air via
forced convection. The final part of the cooling loop is the pump,
which drives the fluid through the loop.

Closed Loop Liquid Cooling System

The heat transfer from the wall of a thermally conductive metal
tube carrying circulating water depends on many fluid dynamic
variables, for example, the Nusselt, Reynolds, and Prandtl
numbers, whether the flow is streamline or turbulent, etc.
However, we take a simplified view of the fluid flow and heat
transfer to the circulating water in conductor tubes running
through the heat-generating equipment. The basic equation that
determines the water temperature rise is

heat transferred to water = water mass × specific heat ×

temperature rise

which leads to

watts transferred to water

water temperature rise =
water flow rate kg per second × specific heat
WATER COOLING

Measuring the temperature rise of water between inlet and outlet

in degrees Celsius, the above equation reduces to a simplified
relation between the power loss and the water quantity flow rate
as follows:

14.3 × kW Power loss

liters/minute =
water temperature rise in °C

Equation gives the water flow rate for a given piece of equipment
assuming that all water is in contact with the cooling tube. In a
large-diameter tube with laminar flow, only a fraction of the total
water flow is in contact with the tube wall. Therefore, even with
the required quantity of flow rate passing through the tubes, the
heat may not be removed unless the tube is narrow enough to have
high-velocity turbulent flow with all water in contact with the tube.
On the other hand, narrow tubes result in high pressure drop. The
design engineer may take several iterations before arriving at a
satisfactory design that optimizes the heat transfer and the
pressure drop.
Cooling Tube Design

The cooling water progressively heats up while passing through

copper tubes in the heat-generating equipment. The water enters
one end at room temperature (10°C to 25°C) and leaves the other
end about 20°C–25°C hotter. Therefore, the temperature range of
the cooling water in the equipment could be 10°C–45°C. The
properties of water (density, specific heat, etc.) would change with
temperature but by negligible amount over this temperature
range. Therefore, we assume the water density and specific heat
constant to simplify the temperature rise estimate. Over the
practical temperature range, we use constant values for water
density, 1000 kg/m3, and specific heat, 4180 J/(kg °C). With these
values, a fluid flow and heat transfer analysis will lead to the
following relation for the cooling water path parameters shown in
Figure.

𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠⁄(𝑙 × Δθ) = 148.2 (𝑉 × 𝐷)0.8

Water cooling tube parameters for thermal analysis

where watts = equipment power loss transferred to water;
L = total length of cooling tube in one series path (m);
Δθ = mean temperature difference,
θ𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 (𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡) (constant) − θ𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 (𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒) (°C);
V = velocity of water in tube (m/s);
D = inside diameter of cooling tube (cm).
In terms of the water quantity flow rate Q in liters/minute,

𝜋 × (𝐷⁄2)2 × 100𝑉
𝑄=
1000
or

𝑄
𝑉=
1.5𝜋𝐷2

Using two equations, we obtain

0.8
𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡 𝑄 𝑄 0.8
= 148.2 ( ) = 42.9 ( )
𝐿×𝜃 1.5 × 𝜋 × 𝐷 𝐷

𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡 1.25

Therefore, 𝑄 = = 𝐷( )
𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 42.9𝐿×𝜃

𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠⁄𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠
water velocity 𝑉𝑚/𝑠 = 0.212 2
𝐷𝑐𝑚
The left-hand side of Equation suggests that for the same power
loss, tube length, and temperature difference, the Q/D ratio must
be maintained constant. If we wish to have fewer liters of water
circulated, then the diameter of the tube must be reduced. It would,
however, increase both the water temperature and the tube wall
temperature. It would also increase the pressure drop through the
tube running through the equipment, which would require a larger
pump and higher pumping power. These are the design trades the
engineer makes to meet the overall system requirements.

As the cooling water circulates through the tube, its temperature

rises by Δθ𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = θ𝑖𝑛 − θ𝑜𝑢𝑡 , where θ𝑖𝑛 = inlet temperature of
water, and θ𝑜𝑢𝑡 = outlet temperature of water. If θ𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 = tube
temperature (assumed constant), then the mean temperature
difference between tube and water is given by

1 1
𝜃= {(θ𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 − θ𝑖𝑛 ) + (θ𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 − θ𝑜𝑢𝑡 )} = θ𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 − (θ𝑖𝑛 + θ𝑜𝑢𝑡 )
2 2

These equations are accurate within 5% for θ𝑖𝑛 /θ𝑜𝑢𝑡 < 2.

Pressure Drop

Determining the water pump rating requires calculating the

pressure difference (drop) between the water inlet and outlet.
Various sources of pressure drop in a fluid flow through a series of
cooling tubes are frictions at (1) the tube wall along its length, (2)
the tube entrance and exit, and (3) each bend in the tube routing
path. The water is generally drawn from a large header (or
reservoir) and is discharged into another large header (or
reservoir). The entry and exit velocities are, therefore, extremely
low and can be ignored. The pressure drop is then approximately
given by the following:

5.55 × 𝐿 × 𝑉 1.8
𝛥𝑃 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠 = 2.51 1.2
+ (750 + 50 × 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 90° bends)𝑉 2
𝐷𝑐𝑚

In Equation, the multiplier 50 with the number of 90° bends

assumes that the ratio of the bend radius to the tube diameter is
greater than three (soft bends). The multiplier will be 75 for less
soft bends with a ratio of two and 100 for a ratio of one (sharp
bends). For 180° bends (U-turns), the number of 90º bends to use
in equation = 2 × 180° bends.
The unit of ΔP in SI unit is pascal (newtons per square meter). In
practice, it is often expressed in head of water in meters, which is

𝛥𝑃 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠
𝛥𝐻 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 =
9.81 × 1000
Parallel cooling paths. Multiple parallel paths may be required for
limiting the pressure drop in a long tube. If N = number of identical
parallel paths, then the above formulas apply to each path with its
own kilowatt power loss, length, and water quantity per path.
However, the pressure drop 𝛥𝑃 is the same for all parallel paths.
For nonidentical parallel paths, the kilowatt power loss, water flow
rate Q, and water velocity will be different in each path, but 𝛥𝑃
would be the same.
Noncircular tubes. The cooling water tubes are often round copper
or aluminum tubes in most applications. When they are of another
shape (rectangular, square, oblong, or triangular tubes, or even
two parallel plates with narrow gap), their equivalent diameter is
used in the above formulas. It is derived such as to give the same
water flow rate for a given 𝛥𝑃:

4 × cross section of the water flow

equivalent tube diameter =
wetted perimeter of the water flow path
The power electronics converter subassemblies are often mounted
on a solid metal plate—called base plates or the cold plate—with a
labyrinth of water tubes, shown in below figure. Parallel plate heat
exchangers are also used in many places, such as in large power
converters and lubricating oil cooling systems.

Labyrinth metal tubes for water-cooled power electronics converter assembly

Below figure shows one such parallel plate heat exchanger.

Parallel plate heat exchanger for main lubricating oil cooler.

(Courtesy of Raul P. Osigian, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.)
 14.3 × kW Power loss
liters/minute =
water temperature rise in °C

𝑄𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 30000 W
𝑇𝑚𝑜𝑑 , Max = 45°C
𝑇𝑎 = 35°C

14.3 × 30 kW Power loss

(45° − 35°) °C

= 42.9 Lit/min
Practical implementation of thyristors and heat-sinks.