A Thorough Review of Cooling Concepts and Thermal Management Techniques for Automotive WBG Inverters: Topology, Technology and Integration Level

Ekaterina Abramushkina, Assel Zhaksylyk, Thomas Geury, Mohamed El Baghdadi and Omar Hegazy
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Ekaterina Abramushkina: Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology Research Centre (MOBI), Department of Electrical Engineering and Energy Technology (ETEC), Faculty of Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1050 Brussel, Belgium
Assel Zhaksylyk: Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology Research Centre (MOBI), Department of Electrical Engineering and Energy Technology (ETEC), Faculty of Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1050 Brussel, Belgium
Thomas Geury: Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology Research Centre (MOBI), Department of Electrical Engineering and Energy Technology (ETEC), Faculty of Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1050 Brussel, Belgium
Mohamed El Baghdadi: Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology Research Centre (MOBI), Department of Electrical Engineering and Energy Technology (ETEC), Faculty of Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1050 Brussel, Belgium
Omar Hegazy: Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology Research Centre (MOBI), Department of Electrical Engineering and Energy Technology (ETEC), Faculty of Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1050 Brussel, Belgium

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-21

Abstract: The development of electric vehicles (EVs) is an important step towards clean and green cities. An electric powertrain provides power to the vehicle and consists of a charger, a battery, an inverter, and a motor as the main components. Supplied by a battery pack, the automotive inverter manages the power of the motor. EVs require a highly efficient inverter, which satisfies low cost, size, and weight requirements. One approach to meeting these requirements is to use the new wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors, which are being widely investigated in the industry as an alternative to silicon switches. WBG devices have superior intrinsic properties, such as high thermal flux, of up to 120 W/cm 2 (on average); junction temperature of 175–200 °C; blocking voltage limit of about 6.5 kV; switching frequency about 20-fold higher than that of Si; and up to 73% lower switching losses with a lower conduction voltage drop. This study presents a review of WBG-based inverter cooling systems to investigate trends in cooling techniques and changes associated with the use of WBG devices. The aim is to consider suitable cooling techniques for WBG inverters at different power levels.

Keywords: cooling system; wide-bandgap (WBG); silicon carbide (SiC); gallium nitride (GaN); automotive inverter; electric vehicle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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