Experimental Optimization of Passive Cooling of a Heat Source Array Flush-Mounted on a Vertical Plate

Antoine Baudoin,Bo Zhu,Cecilia Boström,Didier Saury

doi:10.3390/en9110912

Abstract

Heat sources, such as power electronics for offshore power, could be cooled passively—mainly by conduction and natural convection. The obvious advantage of this strategy is its high reliability. However, it must be implemented in an efficient manner (i.e., the area needs to be kept low to limit the construction costs). In this study, the placement of multiple heat sources mounted on a vertical plate was studied experimentally for optimization purposes. We chose a regular distribution, as this is likely to be the preferred choice in the construction process. We found that optimal spacing can be determined for a targeted source density by tuning the vertical and horizontal spacing between the heat sources. The optimal aspect ratio was estimated to be around two.

Highlights

The energy from the oceans can be extracted by offshore wind power, wave power, tidal power, tidal marine currents, temperature gradients, and salinity gradients
This study addresses a need in wave power, and the setup matches the typical conditions encountered by offshore power devices
Low density regions correspond to a single heat source, and any optimization is meaningless

Summary

Introduction

The energy from the oceans can be extracted by offshore wind power, wave power, tidal power, tidal marine currents, temperature gradients, and salinity gradients. The potential is estimated to be 8000 TWh/year–80,000 TWh/year [1]. There exist a significant number of different wave energy conversion technologies [2]. Offshore technologies require a power conversion system before transmission to shore, in order to ensure a high power quality to the grid [3]. The conversion system usually consists of passive and active converters in different power electronics topologies; see, for example [4,5]. Offshore operation puts high demands on the reliability and lifetime of the power components, and the maintenance work is expensive compared to onshore installations. A key issue in ensuring a long lifetime of the power components is a strategy for proper cooling of the components [6,7,8]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion