Power Electronics Cooling Plate Layout for Low Pressure Drop
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional direct water cooling systems for high power electronic converters suffer from high pressure drop and temperature gradients, leading to inadequate cooling, material fatigue, and size/weight issues, making them unsuitable for compact applications like hybrid cars and racing vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A twin cooling chamber system with a flow distributor featuring S-shaped dividers and shorter, wider fins to reduce pressure drop and temperature gradients, ensuring even cooling across power modules with parallel flow streams and minimized vortex formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the flow rate of cooling water is increased to ensure appropriate cooling levels, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but pressure drop increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling chamber is divided into multiple chambers with separate flow paths, allowing parallel cooling streams that reduce the pressure drop in each individual path while maintaining overall cooling effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The flow distributor redirects cooling water to flow across the width of the cooling chamber rather than longitudinally, creating a shorter flow path that reduces pressure drop while still achieving effective cooling of power modules
2Temperature
If fin density and fin size are increased to improve cooling capacity, then heat dissipation is improved, but pressure drop increases due to resistance to flow
Solution Approach 1:
Pin fins are provided only in specific regions where power modules are mounted, rather than uniformly across the entire chamber, reducing overall flow resistance while maintaining cooling capacity where needed
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling chamber is segmented into multiple chambers, distributing the fin density requirement across separate regions and reducing the cumulative pressure drop through the system
3Loss of energy
If conventional water cooling systems are used to dissipate heat from high power electronic converters, then heat dissipation capacity is improved, but temperature gradients cause insufficient cooling of components nearer the outlet and unwanted hot spots
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into multiple independent cooling chambers with separate flow paths, creating parallel cooling streams that distribute cooling capacity more evenly across different regions and reduce temperature gradients
Solution Approach 2:
Cooling water is redirected to flow across the width of the chamber rather than longitudinally from inlet to outlet, shortening the flow path and enabling more uniform temperature distribution across the cooling surface
4Temperature
If conventional direct water cooled systems are designed with adequate cooling capacity, then cooling performance is improved, but the system becomes relatively heavy and large, making integration difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into multiple compact modular chambers that can be integrated more efficiently, reducing the overall size and weight while maintaining adequate cooling capacity through parallel flow paths
Solution Approach 2:
By changing the flow direction to across the chamber width rather than longitudinally, the effective cooling surface area is increased within a smaller volume, improving cooling performance without increasing system size
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 achieves reduced pressure drop and temperature gradients, providing efficient and uniform cooling to power modules while minimizing size and weight, enhancing performance and integration in space-constrained systems.
Implementation Method 1
the water to take up heat generated from the power modules mounted on the opposite face of the chamber wall to the pin fins
Implementation Method 2
The cooling fluid passes longitudinally along the cooling chamber and then passes out of the cooling chamber via outlet
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A cooling system for power electronics, the system comprising: a cooling module having inlet and outlet ends, an inlet side with an inlet channel for receiving, at the inlet end, a flow of cooling fluid and an outlet side having an outlet channel through which, at the outlet end, outlet flow exits the system, the inlet and outlet channels being on a first face of the cooling module; and a cooling plate mounted on the other face of the cooling module and forming with the cooling module a cooling chamber in fluid communication with the inlet and outlet flow channels via a plurality of cooling fluid passages located on opposite sides of the cooling module, such that, in use, flow of cooling fluid in the cooling chamber is from the inlet side to the outlet side.