In this paper, a 3-D model of an electrostatic fluid accelerator was simulated using the finite element method (as implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics). To investigate the heat transfer performance of the accelerator, the impinging flow of the accelerator was used to cool down a heating round plate. The heat transfer coefficient and temperature distribution of the plate were numerically investigated with respect to the heat flux and radius of the round plate, and a comparison was made between the impinging flow of the accelerator and a uniform jet flow. To explore this in greater depth, a non-uniform heat flux was applied on the round plate to study the cooling effect of the accelerator on the surface with a hot spot. The effects of the hot spot heat flux and the hot spot size were then investigated. This study provides a reference for the practical cooling process of commercial chips, with and without hot spots, by adopting electrostatic fluid accelerators. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.