Stacked Medium-Frequency Transformer Cooling Duct Layout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Solid State Transformers (SSTs) face challenges in cooling and insulating medium frequency transformers due to their smaller size, which complicates coolant flow and increases complexity and cost, while also leading to heat exchange issues with power electronic components.
Innovation Solution
The design involves placing medium frequency transformers in a special cooling duct thermally decoupled from power converters, allowing for efficient cooling and insulation by grouping transformers and using a single cooling system, thereby avoiding separate cooling for each transformer and minimizing complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If medium frequency transformers are cooled individually with separate cooling systems, then cooling efficiency is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple medium frequency transformers are grouped together and cooled by a common cooling duct instead of individual cooling systems. The cooling duct is positioned to receive coolant flow that sequentially passes through spatial gaps of multiple transformers, enabling shared cooling infrastructure while maintaining effective heat dissipation for each transformer.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling duct serves multiple medium frequency transformers simultaneously, making a single cooling component perform the function of what would otherwise require multiple separate cooling systems. This universal cooling approach reduces overall system complexity while maintaining cooling effectiveness.
2Weight of stationary object
If medium frequency transformers are placed closer together to reduce size, then weight and footprint are reduced, but cooling and insulation become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling approach transitions from horizontal/vertical spacing between transformers to utilizing the spatial gap dimension between transformer components (core and windings). The cooling duct is positioned to access these internal spatial gaps, allowing effective cooling even when transformers are closely packed together, thus reducing overall footprint and weight while maintaining cooling capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling duct acts as an intermediary structure that facilitates heat removal from closely spaced transformers. It provides a controlled thermal pathway through the spatial gaps between transformer components, enabling efficient heat transfer without requiring large physical separations between transformers.
3Area of stationary object
If medium frequency transformers are placed closer together to reduce size, then footprint is reduced, but insulation between transformers becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The insulation solution moves from requiring large horizontal/vertical spacing to utilizing the spatial gap dimension between transformer core and windings. Insulation structures are positioned within these spatial gaps to provide electrical isolation, enabling compact transformer arrangement while maintaining adequate insulation levels.
4Productivity
If transformers are cooled with power electronic components in the same cabinet, then space utilization is improved, but heat exchange between transformers and components occurs causing stability issues
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system for medium frequency transformers is extracted as a separate thermal zone within the cabinet. The cooling duct is thermally decoupled from power electronic components, creating independent cooling pathways that prevent unwanted heat exchange while allowing both transformers and power electronics to coexist in the same physical cabinet space.
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 approach enables efficient, low-cost cooling and insulation of medium voltage SSTs, maintaining stability and efficiency while reducing size and weight, and allowing for higher power ratings with reduced temperatures and complexity.
Implementation Method 1
The support structure and the spatial gaps of the transformers in the plurality of stacked transformers are configured to form a cooling duct for a coolant fluid
Data Source
AI summary
A transformer arrangement is provided. The transformer arrangement includes a plurality of stacked transformers, each transformer including a transformer core, a first winding wound around the transformer core, a second winding, a spatial gap configured to allow a cooling of the transformer by a coolant fluid flowing in the spatial gap, and a support structure supporting the transformers in the plurality of stacked transformers, wherein the support structure and the spatial gaps of the transformers in the plurality of stacked transformers are configured to form a cooling duct for the coolant fluid.