Passive cooling solutions for high power battery chargers

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This project aims to use a systematic approach to develop next-generation passive cooling solutions for high power battery chargers, featuring emerging graphite thermal interface materials (TIM), heat pipes, and new efficient naturally-cooled heat sinks. Passive cooling methods are widely preferred, where possible, since they provide low-cost, no-parasitic power, quiet operation, and reliable solutions. The proposed research project is built on the foundations of a productive collaboration between Dr. Bahrami and Delta-Q Technologies, on an NSERC ENGAGE Grant in the last six months. Delta-Q is a major manufacturer of battery chargers and has shipped over one million chargers for applications in electric vehicles, golf carts, forklifts, and aerial work platforms worldwide. In a battery charger, 10-15% of the input power is consumed for cooling the electronic components of the device. A number of failure mechanisms in electronic devices stem from overheating. The trend in the industry is to reduce the size and increase the power, which doubly impacts the cooling needs in battery chargers. Therefore, cooling has become a limiting factor in the development of higher power-density battery chargers. The proposed thermal solutions will eliminate parasitic power consumption, thus significantly reduce the industry carbon footprint. The research results will establish design tools that will lead Delta-Q towards the development of next-generation battery charger technologies. In addition, the fundamental knowledge and engineering design tools developed in this research can be employed for a variety of sustainable and green energy applications, including telecom, electronics and power electronics systems, automotive, heat exchanger, heating, ventilating and air-conditioning, and refrigeration sectors. Additionally, the proposed research project will support training of highly qualified personnel in an array of multi-disciplinary areas, such as energy management, green cooling, and design/prototyping.