High-Power, High-Voltage, Bidirectional DC-DC Converter

The objective of this research is to investigate the technical feasibility of building a bidirectional converter to achieve the power density, efficiency, and coolant temperature objectives using an innovative marriage of state-of-the-art technologies. These technologies each represent innovations in their respective fields. The power electronics team at Advanced Power Electronics Corp. is proposing to investigate and design a modular converter with multiple, smaller capacity units operating in a parallel, interleaved fashion each employing soft-switching techniques. The modularity of the system will distribute heat load between the semiconductor devices which will promote a lower junction temperature while interleaving will allow for smaller system magnetics. The effective use of soft-switching techniques will reduce losses thus improving efficiency and power dissipation in the devices. The design will focus on compatibility with advanced cooling techniques. The thermal management/packaging team at Rini Technologies Inc. will incorporate the emerging evaporative spray cooling (ESC) technology. The proposed cooling system will be enclosed with the converter and reject heat to an external coolant loop at 100?C. Further, the team will coordinate with semiconductor device manufacturers to repackage selected devices to make them more compatible with ESC. In the Phase I option, the team will build a small-scale prototype in order to prove the proposed design concepts.