Thermosyphon Cooling for Electromagnetic Device Core and Winding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electromagnetic devices, such as transformers and inductors, face challenges in cooling multiple heat-generating components efficiently, as conventional cooling methods often focus on a single component, limiting power density and design flexibility due to uneven thermal loss distribution between the core and windings.
Innovation Solution
A cooling arrangement incorporating a thermosyphon and a blower is used, where the thermosyphon's evaporator is in thermal contact with the core, and the blower generates a gas flow that cools both the condenser and windings, allowing adjustable heat transfer rates to balance thermal losses between the core and windings, optimizing cooling capacity based on specific requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If conventional cooling methods focusing on a single component are used, then the cooling system is simple, but the power density is limited and thermal losses cannot be balanced between core and windings
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into two independent cooling paths: one for the core and one for the windings. The core is cooled by a dedicated cooling arrangement, while the windings are cooled by a separate cooling path, allowing independent optimization of each component's thermal management without increasing overall system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously: it cools both the core and the windings through different paths, enabling a single cooling system to handle thermal losses from multiple heat-generating components, thereby increasing power density without requiring separate cooling systems for each component
2Reliability
If cooling is focused on one component (core or windings), then the cooling arrangement is simple, but the other component overheats due to uneven thermal loss distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling arrangement is divided into separate cooling paths for the core and windings, with the core cooling path including a cooling arrangement and the winding cooling path including a cooling fan, allowing each path to be optimized for its specific component's thermal requirements
Solution Approach 2:
Different cooling methods are applied to different components based on their specific thermal characteristics: the core uses a cooling arrangement with cooling air flow, while the windings use a cooling fan, providing locally optimized cooling for each heat-generating component
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 dual-core and winding cooling solution enhances power density by efficiently distributing thermal losses, providing greater design freedom and improved cooling performance for electromagnetic devices with complex thermal requirements.
Implementation Method 1
The thermosyphon comprises an evaporator, a condenser and connection piping connecting the evaporator and the condenser
Implementation Method 2
The evaporator is in thermally conductive contact with a first side surface of a stack of sheet components forming the core
Implementation Method 3
the condenser and the electrically conductive winding are arranged in relation to the blower in series such that cooling gas of a gas flow generated by the blower cools both the condenser and the electrically conductive winding
Implementation Method 4
a blower arranged at a gas inlet of the electro-magnetic device... cooling gas of a gas flow generated by the blower cools both the condenser and the electrically conductive winding
Implementation Method 5
the evaporator is in thermally conductive contact with a first side surface of a stack of sheet components forming the core
Data Source
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AI summary
A cooled electro-magnetic device (1) such as a medium frequency transformer or an inductor having improved cooling characteristics is proposed. The electro-magnetic device comprises a core (3), an electrically conductive winding (5) and a cooling arrangement (7). The cooling arrangement (7) comprises at least one thermosyphon (9, 21) and a blower (11). The thermosyphon (9, 21) comprises an evaporator (13), a condenser (15) and connection piping (17). The thermosyphon (9, 21) and the blower (11) are arranged such that the evaporator (13) is in thermal conductive contact with the core (3) and the condenser and the electrically conductive winding (5) are arranged in relation to the blower (11) such that cooling gas of a gas flow (19) generated by the blower (11) cools both the condenser (15) and the winding (5). Accordingly, particularly in electro-magnetic devices such as medium frequency transformers where thermal losses are not limited to occur in a single component but are typically distributed and partly occur in the core (3) and in the winding (5), the proposed cooling arrangement (7) enables to fulfill cooling requirements of both components by providing a single airflow (19) directly cooling the winding (5) and indirectly cooling the core (3) via the thermosyphon (9, 21).