Optimization Study of Cooling Channel for the Oil Cooling Air Gap Armature in a High-Temperature Superconducting Motor

Abstract

With the continuous advancement of science and technology, the application of high-temperature superconductivity has developed rapidly. The high-temperature superconducting (HTS) motor replacing the copper coil in the traditional motor with HTS winding is increasingly used in power equipment, and the effective thermal management of HTS winding is vital in ensuring the life and effective operation of the HTS motor. In this study, five enhancement structures of indirect oil cooling channels were designed to improve the heat dissipation capacity of the HTS motor winding, and the enhancement effects of the different structures were comprehensively evaluated through numerical simulation using Fluent software 2022R1. The best enhancement structure was selected through structural optimization. The results showed that the Nusselt number of the gap-type enhanced structure was higher than that of the V- and staggered-type structures at the same flow velocity and 68% higher than that of the bare pipe. At the same inlet flow velocity and with a pressure drop limit of 30 kPa, the performance evaluation criterion value of the gap-type structure was 39% and 63% higher than that of the staggered- and V-type structures, respectively. The gap type is the optimal enhancement structure and can effectively improve the heat dissipation of the HTS winding coil.