Power Electronics Thermal Management

Gilbert Moreno, Kevin Bennion, Xuhui Feng, Ram Kotecha, Josh Major, Jeff Tomerlin

Research output: NRELPoster

Abstract

The 2017 Electrical and Electronics Technical Team Roadmap [1] proposes aggressive research and development targets aimed at improving power electronics technology to enable the mass-market penetration of electric-drive vehicles. Achieving these aggressive targets will require a decrease in cost (year 2025 cost target: $2.70/kW) and an increase in power density (year 2025 power density target: 100 kW/L) as compared with current on-road technology. Replacing traditional silicon device-based components with more efficient and higher-temperature wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor device-based components will enable increased power density. However, meeting the power density target will also require innovative thermal management solutions to increase the heat fluxes dissipated and allow for compact electronics packaging. This project conducts research to develop new power electronics thermal management technologies to increase power density, enable high WBG temperature operation, and decrease cost. The performance (e.g., thermal resistance, pumping power) of the power electronics cooling technologies developed in this project are compared to the performance of current, on-road technology. One of the main challenges to achieving high power densities is associated with packaging high-temperature (up to 250 degrees C) WBG devices near lower-temperature-rated components (e.g., electrical boards and capacitors).
Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 2022

Publication series

NamePresented at the 2022 Vehicle Technologies Office Annual Merit Review, 21-23 June 2022, Washington, D.C.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/PO-5400-82714

Keywords

  • electric-drive vehicles
  • power electronics
  • thermal management

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