Thermal Management System for Press-Pack IGBT Based on Liquid Metal Coolant

The press-pack packaging technology has been adopted in recent years for insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) to be utilized in high voltage-high current applications, such as high-voltage direct current (HVdc) electric power transmission. Traditionally, the heat management of such systems is based on water coolant; however, there are numerous challenges associated with that method, such as the requirement to deionize the water to prevent electrical potentials and inherent problems of corrosion and leakage in the cooling piping structure. This article presents the design and development of a liquid metal heat sink for press-pack IGBTs. The use of a thermal management system based on liquid metal increases the heat dissipation capability without corroding the cooling structure. Analytical work is performed on the design of the heat sink. Moreover, the thermal performance of the heat sink is experimentally validated against a commercial water-based cooling system. The presented results show that the cooling performance of the liquid metal system is increased, whereas the shortcomings of the water-based system are eliminated.