Abstract
Heat generated in an electric motor can increase the operating temperature. The excessive operating temperature will reduce the electric motor performance and shorten the service life. An appropriate thermal management system is required to reduce the electric motor operating temperature. The objective of this study is to determine the thermal performance of pulsating heat pipes which applied to the electric motor thermal management system. A prototype of electric motor thermal management system was made from an induction motor with a cartridge heater instead of a heat-generating rotor and stator. Six pieces of pulsating heat pipe were mounted using hexagonal heat pipe holder which placed inside the electric motor housing. The pulsating heat pipes are made of a copper capillary tube using acetone as working fluid with a filling ratio of 0.5. The electric power input was varied from 30 W to 150 W. The use of pulsating heat pipes can reduce the electric motor surface temperature by 55.3°C with the minimum thermal resistance of 0.151°C/W.
Highlights
The flow of electric current through stator and rotor of an electric motor, in the process of energy conversion, will increase the working temperature
The fins are usually mounted on an electric motor outer surface, which is its housing
The results show a significant decrease in temperature on the electric motor casing
Summary
The flow of electric current through stator and rotor of an electric motor, in the process of energy conversion, will increase the working temperature. Electric motors will work optimally at a certain working temperature. If they operate at excessive working temperature, their performance will be reduced due to Joule losses which can be expressed as I2R, where I and R represent electric current and electric resistancerespectively [1]. The excessive working temperature will shorten the motor service life. Electric motors used fins and an axial fan as tools of the thermal management system to reduce electric motor’s working temperature. Its function is to increase heat transfer rate by natural convection. The fans are used to increase heat transfer rate by forced convection. Many studies have been conducted to find another method to increase cooling performanceof the electric motor
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