Comparison on thermal and hydraulic performances of transverse mini-channel based on a novel comprehensive evaluation factor

•A novel evaluation factor used for thermal management system is proposed.•This factor can guide different cold plates to obtain optimal mass flow rate.•Some mini-channels with transverse layout are investigated and compared.•Transverse mini-channel has better comprehensive performance than the longitudinal.•Transverse layout could become an effective design concept for cold plates. To disclose the application value of cold plate with transverse layout used in thermal management system, a novel dimensionless factor, Comprehensive Index of Thermal Management System (CITMS), is proposed, which involves three most important parameters: pumping power Etol, temperature dispersion Tσ and maximum temperature Tmax. Results show that compared to 15 types of mini-channels (longitudinal parallel, serpentine, bifurcated, u-turn, annular, zigzag, cobweb, elm leaf, diverged, rhombus spoiler, gridding, wave, honeycomb, multistage tesla-valve, pease types), transverse parallel mini-channel shows superior CITMS, which declines by an average of 80.26 % to 99.61 % under weighting coefficient w = 1 and expected operating temperature Texp = 320.15 K. Meanwhile, zigzag, wave, pease and multistage tesla-valve mini-channels with transverse layout show significantly better CITMS than longitudinal layout, which decline by an average of 78.61 % to 89.03 %. This is mainly due to the decline in Tσ and Etol. Furthermore, based on CITMS, an appropriate mass flow rate can be achieved for a specific cold plate. Under w = 30 and Texp = 298.15 K, the optimal value of CITMS for transverse parallel mini-channel occurs at 0.5 g/s. In view of better comprehensive performance and same process difficulty, transverse layout could undoubtedly become an effective design concept.