Cooling by Peltier effect and active control systems to thermally manage operating temperatures of electrical Machines (Motors and Generators)

Abstract

Electrical motors are one of the most utilised items employed by plants. A key design issue is removing unwanted heat caused by winding and core losses in the motor. This paper investigates the incorporation of a new technology, Thermoelectric Electric Coolers (TEC) to improve the heat flow from the core and casing to the surrounding air. Three test configurations are used. The first one is the heat sink system because of its simple construction arrangement capable of being simply adapted to a motors external casing. The second one is the heat displacement system “heat pipes” because of very large number of motors mounted in confined areas and the third one is the water-cooled heat sink arrangement extensively used in critical areas. The aim of this study is to evaluate the incorporation of TEC to each of these systems to remove unwanted heat more than the current systems. Experimental results show that the addition of the above systems with TEC reduce slot temperatures by 14.9%, 12%, and 18.96%, respectively. The reduction in insulation temperatures will result in increased motor insulation life or allow the motors to be overloaded (increased output) without exceeding insulation thermal ratings.