Thermal management system of LED headlights based on the active cooling system of water and nano-encapsulated phase change material

This study presents an advanced electronic thermal management system (ETMS) designed for high-power LED (HP-LED) headlights, addressing critical automotive cooling challenges. The system integrates a mini-channel embedded with copper metal foam (CMF) to enhance heat conduction and turbulence, and employs a water-based emulsion infused with nano-encapsulated phase change material (NEPCM) for efficient thermal buffering. Also, n-eicosane/PMMA NEPCM is used due to its suitable melting point (∼35 °C), high latent heat, and thermal cycling stability, making it ideal for automotive environments. Through CFD simulations, the effects of Reynolds number (Re) and CMF's porosity (ε) are analyzed on thermal and HP-LED performances. Results reveal that decreasing ε from 0.95 to 0.75 at Re = 500 enhances the convective heat transfer coefficient (h) by up to 3.14 times and reduces the HP-LED junction temperature (Tj) by 7.49 °C. These thermal improvements correspond to an 8.07 % increase in luminous flux and an 11.26 % extension in the L70 HP-LED lifespan. A tradeoff analysis shows that the increase in pressure drop (Δp) is energetically justified by the thermal gains. The findings validate the synergistic role of structural porosity and NEPCM-enhanced emulsion in improving the cooling efficiency, optical stability, and service life of automotive lighting systems.