Power Electronics Thermal Management Research Annual Progress Report Gilbert Moreno
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Power Electronics Thermal Management Research Annual Progress Report Gilbert Moreno NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. Management Report NREL/MP-5400-67112 October 2017 Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 Power Electronics Thermal Management Research Annual Progress Report Gilbert Moreno NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. National Renewable Energy Laboratory Management Report 15013 Denver West Parkway NREL/MP-5400-67112 Golden, CO 80401 October 2017 303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof. Cover Photos by Dennis Schroeder: (left to right) NREL 26173, NREL 18302, NREL 19758, NREL 29642, NREL 19795. NREL prints on paper that contains recycled content. Power Electronics Thermal Management Research Principal Investigator: Gilbert Moreno National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Transportation and Hydrogen Systems Center 15013 Denver West Parkway Golden, CO 80401 Phone: (303) 275-4450 Email: [email protected] DOE Technology Development Manager: Susan A. Rogers U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Ave. SW EE-3V Washington, DC 20585 Phone: (202) 586-8997 Email: [email protected] NREL Task Leader: Sreekant Narumanchi Phone: (303) 275-4062 Email: [email protected] Abstract/Executive Summary The objective for this project is to develop thermal management strategies to enable efficient and high- temperature wide-bandgap (WBG)-based power electronic systems (e.g., emerging inverter and DC-DC converter). Reliable WBG devices are capable of operating at elevated temperatures (≥ 175°C). However, packaging WBG devices within an automotive inverter and operating them at higher junction temperatures will expose other system components (e.g., capacitors and electrical boards) to temperatures that may exceed their safe operating limits. This creates challenges for thermal management and reliability. In this project, system- level thermal analyses are conducted to determine the effect of elevated device temperatures on inverter components. Thermal modeling work is then conducted to evaluate various thermal management strategies that will enable the use of highly efficient WBG devices within automotive power electronic systems. Accomplishments ● We created steady-state thermal models of an automotive inverter that included all the major system components. The models were used to estimate the effect of high-temperature (175°C, 200°C, and 250°C) WBG devices on inverter component (e.g., capacitor, electrical boards, and solder layers) temperatures. Results indicate that capacitor temperatures are predicted to exceed the maximum operating temperature of typical polypropylene-film capacitors at the lowest junction temperature evaluated (175°C). ● We used the inverter thermal models to evaluate various under-hood temperature environments on inverter component temperatures. The under-hood temperatures evaluated were intended to simulate all-electric and hybrid-electric under-hood temperature environments. Model results suggest that the under-hood environment does not have a significant effect on inverter component temperatures. ● We created a transient thermal model of an automotive inverter. The transient model capacitor versus time response compared well with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) experimental results. The model was used to estimate the time it takes for the capacitor and electrical board to exceed their temperature limitations when exposed to 250°C junction temperature conditions. ● We evaluated various capacitor thermal management strategies. The thermal management strategies consisted of increasing the power module cold plate performance (to decrease junction temperatures), mounting the capacitor on a cold plate(s), and cooling the bus bars that connect the power modules to 1 the capacitors. Cooling the bus bars is predicted to be the most effective strategy for cooling the capacitors. Introduction This project will analyze and develop thermal management strategies for WBG-based automotive power electronics systems. A challenge with WBG devices is that although their losses in the form of heat are lower, the area of the devices is also reduced to increase power density and reduce costs, which results in higher device heat flux. Additionally, WBG’s high junction temperatures will result in larger temperature gradients through the power module layers that will present reliability challenges and require high temperature bonding materials (e.g., high-temperature solder, sintered silver). Another challenge with WBG’s higher junction temperatures is that they will expose other system components (e.g., capacitors and electrical boards) to higher temperatures that may exceed their allowable temperature limits. These challenges require system-level thermal management analysis and innovative thermal management solutions. Approach System-level (e.g., inverter scale) thermal management analyses were conducted to understand the effect of high-temperature WBG-based devices on the power electronics systems. There are currently no automotive power electronics systems that use WBG devices. Therefore, an automotive silicon-based inverter was modeled and used as the framework for the WBG analyses. The inverter thermal model included all the major inverter components including the power modules, electrical boards, capacitors, and associated electrical interconnects (e.g., bus bars) and assumed a heat dissipation for each component. The models were then used to evaluate various WBG-operating conditions and thermal management strategies. Below is a more detailed description of the project approach. ● Create and validate thermal computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) models of an automotive power electronics system. ● Use the models to evaluate the effects of incorporating high-temperature WBG devices into automotive power electronics systems. Compute system components (e.g., power module attach layers, capacitors, and electrical boards) temperatures when exposed to WBG junction temperatures of 175°C, 200°C, and 250°C. Determine the system components that will require additional thermal management to enable them to operate reliably under high-temperature WBG conditions. ● Evaluate different vehicle (all-electric and hybrid-electric) under-hood environments and their effect on power electronic component temperatures. ● Model various capacitor and electrical board cooling strategies. Determine the most effective and feasible cooling strategies for each component. ● Select a few promising thermal management concepts identified in the modeling work. Conduct test to validate the select concepts. Results and Discussion WBG devices are currently not used in any commercially available automotive traction drive power electronics system (e.g., inverter). Therefore, a silicon-based inverter (2012 Nissan LEAF) was modeled and used to simulate the effect of high-temperature WBG devices on inverter components including the DC-link capacitors, electrical boards, and power module interface layers. Silicon-carbide (SiC) material properties were used for the transistor and diode to represent WBG devices. The reader is referred to the following reports by ORNL [1] and NREL [2] for detailed descriptions of the 2012 Nissan LEAF inverter electrical and thermal management systems. In the Electric Drive Technologies Thermal Performance Benchmarking Project, CFD and FEA models of the 2012 LEAF power modules and cooling system were created. The model-predicted junction-to-coolant thermal resistance was validated using experimental data at various coolant flow rates [2]. For this project, the LEAF 2 CFD and FEA models developed in the benchmarking project were expanded to include the DC-link capacitors, electrical boards (e.g., gate driver and control), electrical interconnects (e.g., bus bars), and inverter aluminum housing. The CFD modeled the air natural convection occurring within the inverter. The FEA models (steady-state and transient) did not model the air flow associated with natural convection, but instead used a simplified method to account for the air natural convection effects. A heat transfer coefficient boundary condition was imposed