Compact Liquid Cooled Inductors

The goal of this project is to establish the feasibility of Liquid Cooled Inductors (LCI) of high Power Density. To accomplish this, Premag has teamed with a system builder to develop a prototypical inductor design. The LCI will be designed to reducethe weight of inductors in a prototypical Navy power converter. The LCI will consist of high-flux-density core, coil and heat exchanger. A trade-off study will be conducted to select optimum magnetic material and geometry that offers highest flux densitywith lowest loss. Optimal coil configuration that is easy to cool by liquid means and yet minimizes eddy and proximity losses will be developed. A heat exchanger that cools both coil and core and offers lowest possible thermal resistance will also beevolved. A laboratory model of the inductor will be constructed to establish the operating principle. A preliminary layout of the LCI for a specific Navy application is the end result of this effort. The power converter system builder will perform thetechnical oversight function. The information gathered from the trade-off studies will be used to estimate the viability of the configuration to meet the target goals for weight and volume reduction. The developed Liquid Cooled Inductor will findimmediate usage in large power converters. They are useful in the emerging distributed power market. Typical applications include fuel cell and wind energy systems, hybrid vehicles, dc-dc converters etc. Of special interest are aircraft power converters,ship propulsion systems and large-scale adjustable speed drives.