Thermal management of a power electronic module employing a novel multi-micro nozzle liquid-based cooling system: A numerical study

Abstract

In this study, the cooling capability of a novel design liquid jet impingement multi-micro nozzle cooling system for a high heat flux commercial Si-IGBT power modules has been numerically investigated. The Pressure-based finite-volume techniques method is used. High operating temperature and non-uniformity of the temperature distribution of power modules can lead to thermal reliability problems such as module deformation and performance degradation. So, the development of cooling techniques for thermal management and innovation in the design of the cooling system is indispensable. A prominent feature of the designed cooling system is the uniform distribution of the cooling fluid by the micro-nozzles. The effect of mass flow rate and the ratio of the micro-nozzle at three heat fluxes of 100, 175, and 250 W/cm2 on the cooling performance and pumping power have been investigated. Based on the results, in a constant mass flow rate, by decreasing the ratio of the nozzle from 1.0 to 0.45, the temperature significantly decreases while increasing the pumping power is negligible; less than 1 W. When the nozzle ratio is 0.3, the increase in the pumping power is considerable, and using the nozzle ratio less than 0.4 is not recommended. According to the results, at minimum nozzle ratio (0.3) and maximum flow rate, the pumping power is maximum (23 W) and when heat flux on the IGBT is 250 W/cm2, in nozzle ratio of 0.45, and at the minimum flow rate (0.57 lit/min), the operating temperature is 117 °C, and the pumping power is 0.25 W, which can be considered as an optimum case in the present study.