Reactor Unit Cooling with Segmented Fin and Flat Plate Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing reactor units in fuel cell vehicles face challenges in effectively restraining the temperature boundary layer, which affects the cooling performance and efficiency of the boost converter.
Innovation Solution
The reactor unit incorporates a design with a ring-shaped core and quadrangular cylinder-shaped coil, where flat portions are strategically placed between reactors and fins are positioned to disturb the refrigerant flow, increasing the region of flow disturbance and thereby restraining the temperature boundary layer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If fins are provided on the entire surface of the side plate to maximize cooling area, then cooling efficiency is improved, but a temperature boundary layer forms on the downstream side reducing cooling performance
Solution Approach 1:
The side plate surface is segmented into multiple regions: finned regions for maximum cooling area and flat portions for flow disturbance. This segmentation allows different areas to serve different functions - fins provide cooling while flat portions prevent boundary layer formation, resolving the contradiction between cooling efficiency and boundary layer suppression.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the side plate are given different local qualities - some areas have fins erected for cooling, while other areas maintain flat surfaces for flow disturbance. This local differentiation allows the system to simultaneously achieve both cooling efficiency and boundary layer restraint without compromising either function.
2Temperature
If flat portions are provided between reactors to disturb flow and restrain temperature boundary layer, then cooling performance is improved, but the cooler structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The flat portions are merged with the side plate structure itself rather than being separate components. By integrating the flow-disturbing flat regions directly into the side plate design, the cooler maintains enhanced cooling performance while minimizing structural complexity and avoiding additional parts.
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
This design enhances the cooling performance by reducing the growth of the temperature boundary layer, maintaining efficient cooling of the reactors while allowing for a more compact cooler structure suitable for fuel cell vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
the refrigerant flow between the fins becomes uniform from an upstream through a downstream, and a temperature boundary layer can be formed near the side plate on the downstream side
Implementation Method 2
a flow passage for refrigerant, and the reactors are mounted on an outside surface of one side plate of the cooler
Implementation Method 3
the flat portion disturbs the refrigerant flow, it is possible to restrain the temperature boundary layer
Data Source
AI summary
A reactor unit includes a plurality of reactors and a cooler. An inside of the cooler serves as a flow passage of refrigerant, and the reactors are mounted on an outside surface of a bottom plate of the cooler. The bottom plate separates the flow passage from an outside. A plurality of fins is provided on a surface of the bottom plate on the flow passage side. A flat portion in which the fins are not erected is provided in a first region and a second region. The first region is a region of the surface of the bottom plate on the flow passage side and corresponds to a space between a pair of coils of the reactor. The second region corresponds to each of four corners of each of the reactors in a plan view of the bottom plate.