Jet Impingement Cooling for Power Electronics Under Variable Loads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat exchangers for power electronics devices are inefficient in maintaining optimal operating temperatures across varying load conditions, leading to degraded performance and reduced system efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A cooling system incorporating a heat removal device with a surface for thermal coupling, featuring a jet impingement feature to direct a primary cooling fluid, and optionally including a heat exchanger with headers and heat exchange tubes, along with a secondary cooling fluid movement device, such as a fan, to enhance heat transfer and temperature management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional heat exchangers are used for power electronics devices, then the devices can be cooled, but the operational efficiency degrades under varying load conditions due to inability to maintain optimal temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system applies jet impingement features that create localized high-velocity cooling zones directly at the heat-generating electronic device surfaces. This localised intensive cooling allows different regions of the device to be cooled according to their specific thermal loads, maintaining optimal temperatures across varying operating conditions and preventing efficiency degradation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses variable geometry jet impingement features that can adapt their cooling characteristics based on operating conditions. The jet impingement configuration allows dynamic adjustment of cooling intensity and distribution, enabling the system to maintain optimal temperature ranges whether the device is operating at high or low power levels.
2Productivity
If jet impingement features are added to the heat removal device, then heat transfer efficiency improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The jet impingement features are integrated directly into the heat exchanger structure, merging the cooling function with the existing heat removal device. This integration approach achieves high heat transfer efficiency through jet impingement while avoiding the need for separate, complex cooling systems, thus limiting the increase in overall device complexity.
3Temperature
If multiple heat exchangers are used to cool different heat-generating devices, then temperature control improves, but system complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heat removal device with jet impingement features is designed to cool multiple heat-generating electronic devices simultaneously. The system can be configured to address the thermal management needs of different devices within a single integrated structure, providing effective temperature control while reducing the overall system footprint compared to using separate heat exchangers for each device.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively maintains optimal temperatures for power electronics devices under different load conditions, improving operational efficiency and reliability by efficiently transferring heat through the use of jet impingement and heat exchanger configurations.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one jet impingement feature is positioned to direct a primary cooling fluid toward the surface that is thermally coupled to the at least one heat-generating electronic device
Implementation Method 2
a surface that is thermally couplable to the at least one heat-generating electronic device
Implementation Method 3
The heat exchanger includes an inlet header and a plurality of heat exchange tubes extending between the inlet header and the outlet header. The primary cooling fluid and a secondary cooling fluid are arranged in a heat transfer relationship within the at least one heat exchanger.
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling system for cooling at least one heat-generating electronic device includes a heat removal device having a surface that is thermally couplable to the at least one heat-generating electronic device. The heat removal device includes an inlet area and at least one jet impingement feature fluidly coupled to the inlet area. The at least one jet impingement feature is positioned to direct a primary cooling fluid toward the surface that is thermally coupled to the at least one heat-generating electronic device.