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High-power IGBT Heat Dissipation Looks Towards Liquid Cooling

2023-06-02

High-power IGBT heat dissipation looks towards liquid cooling

The insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a key component in new energy conversion systems and high-voltage power switching devices, and is a representative platform device in high-power semiconductors. As a core functional device of a power electronic control circuit with high heat flow density, most of the failures of IGBT modules are related to thermal faults. The accumulation of heat can seriously affect the working condition and performance of the device, and if the temperature is too high (150°C), it can also pose a serious threat to the normal operation of the whole system module, or even damage it. Therefore, it is important to do effective thermal detection and management of IGBTs. Trumony has professional technical and design engineers who are able to design efficient, stable, compact and lightweight liquid-cooled heat transfer solutions for different IGBT projects.

There are currently two types of IGBT heat dissipation: passive heat dissipation (heat dissipation by natural convection, which dissipates heat into the atmosphere without external forces) and active heat dissipation (such as air or water cooling).
Passive heat dissipation includes

Fin cooling: the heat generated by the IGBT will be dissipated by natural convection through the fins of the heat sink;
Heat pipe cooling technology: heat pipes as two-phase heat transfer devices, with low heat transfer temperature difference, high heat transfer performance, high effective thermal conductivity advantages, simple working principle, no mechanical maintenance, purely simple and easy to operate passive method. (If fins are embedded, the efficiency of the heat dissipation will be increased even more)
Phase Change Material (PCM) based heat dissipation: A new type of material that uses the release or absorption of latent heat during a phase change to control heat transfer.

Active heat dissipation can effectively increase the cooling efficiency of a heat sink by 1 to 2 energy levels, and the cooling speed is faster, as the heat is dissipated by external forces. However, the appropriate heat dissipation method should be chosen for different use scenarios.
Active cooling includes

Air-cooled cooling technology: to provide sufficient cooling for IGBT cooling needs with high power and heat flux, measures to strengthen air-cooled cooling are mainly to increase the heat dissipation area, improve the heat transfer coefficient and rational design of air ducts, which are related to heat sink material, structure, airfoil, etc. Compared to natural cooling, forced air cooling can increase heat dissipation by a factor of 5 to 12. However, it is important to note that forced air cooling requires the configuration of fans and air ducts, which may generate a high level of noise.
Liquid cooling technology: When the power of the equipment is very large (under the megavolt-ampere level), the forced air cooling technology cannot meet the higher cooling requirements due to the restrictions of the air ducts, air pressure and noise indicators, etc., water cooling is a good choice, and the cooling coefficient of the liquid cooling plate is about 100-300 times that of natural air cooling. Sometimes oil-cooled cooling is used in high voltage and high power power electronic devices due to insulation requirements.

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