Environmental control for medium-voltage drive

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10485146-B2
Application number	US-201615166366-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2016
Priority date	May 27, 2016
Publication date	Nov 19, 2019
Grant date	Nov 19, 2019

Abstract

In accordance with presently disclosed embodiments, a system and method for controlling the temperature of medium-voltage power electronics assemblies (i.e., medium-voltage drives) is provided. The disclosed system generally includes a medium-voltage drive having one or more cabinets with power electronics devices disposed therein, one or more fans for circulating air through the cabinet to cool the devices, and one or more space heaters disposed in the cabinet. The drive also features temperature sensors used to measure various temperatures of the drive, a controller communicatively coupled to the sensors, and one or more variable frequency drives (VFD) for the fans. The controller may receive measurements regarding the ambient and power device temperatures and apply controls to vary the space heater power and fan speed in response to environmental changes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A medium-voltage drive system, comprising:
a medium-voltage drive comprising at least one cabinet and a plurality of power devices disposed in the cabinet;
a heat sink disposed in the cabinet and coupled to the plurality of power devices, wherein the heat sink comprises a liquid-cooled or two-phase heat sink having a coolant system that circulates coolant through the heat sink to cool the power devices;
at least one fan for moving air to cool the power devices, wherein the fan is positioned to move air directly over the heat sink to cool the power devices;
at least one space heater disposed in the cabinet;
at least one ambient sensor for detecting a temperature of ambient air;
at least one device sensor for detecting a temperature of the power devices;
at least one variable frequency drive (VFD) coupled to the at least one fan for varying the speed of the fan; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the ambient sensor, the device sensor, the VFD, and the at least one space heater, wherein the controller is configured to output control signals to adjust the fan speed and the heater power level of the at least one space heater based on feedback received from the ambient sensor and the device sensor, wherein the controller is configured to reduce the speed of the fan in response to the ambient temperature or the device temperature lowering below a threshold, thereby maintaining a viscosity of the coolant within a predetermined range by reducing the speed of the fan.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to output control signals to adjust the heater power level of the at least one space heater by turning on an additional space heater in response to the temperature of ambient air dropping below a threshold.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein each space heater comprises a heater power control component for adjusting the heater power level of the space heater.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the device sensor is disposed in the coolant system to detect the temperature of the power devices by measuring a temperature of coolant in the coolant system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cabinet comprises as an outdoor unit.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the ambient sensor and the device sensor both comprise resistance temperature detectors.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cabinet is divided into a first portion and a second portion, wherein the plurality of power devices are located in the first portion, wherein the heat sink is located in the second portion, and wherein the fan blows air through the second portion over the heat sink.

8. A method, comprising:
measuring an ambient temperature associated with a medium-voltage drive;
measuring a device temperature associated with one or more power devices in the medium-voltage drive;
cooling the one or more power devices via a heat sink disposed in the medium-voltage drive and coupled to the one or more power devices, wherein cooling the one or more power devices via the heat sink comprises circulating a coolant through the heat sink, wherein the heat sink is a liquid-cooled or two-phase heat sink;
blowing air directly over the heat sink in the medium-voltage drive;
adjusting, via a variable frequency drive, a speed of a fan based on the ambient temperature and the device temperature;
adjusting a heater power level of at least one space heater disposed in the medium-voltage drive based on the ambient temperature and the device temperature;
reducing the speed of the fan in response to the ambient temperature or the device temperature lowering below a threshold; and
maintaining a viscosity of the coolant within a predetermined range by reducing the speed of the fan.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising incrementally increasing the heater power level of the at least one space heater as the ambient temperature drops below a threshold.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein increasing the heater power level comprises turning on an additional space heater.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein increasing the heater power level comprises increasing a current flowing through a heating element of the at least one space heater.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising preventing the medium-voltage drive from operating the one or more power devices until the device temperature reaches an operating temperature threshold.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising adjusting the speed of the fan with respect to the ambient temperature or the device temperature over a predetermined temperature range.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein measuring the device temperature comprises detecting a temperature of coolant flowing through a heat sink coupled to the at least one device.

15. The method of claim 8 , wherein measuring the device temperature comprises measuring a temperature of the coolant being circulated through the heat sink to cool the one or more power devices.

16. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising machine-readable instructions to:
receive an ambient temperature measurement indicative of an ambient temperature associated with a medium-voltage drive;
receive a device temperature measurement indicative of a temperature of one or more power devices in the medium-voltage drive;
output a control signal to a variable frequency drive to adjust a speed of a fan blowing air directly over a liquid-cooled or two-phase heat sink attached to the one or more power devices based on the ambient temperature measurement and the device temperature measurement, wherein the control signal output to the variable frequency drive comprises a control signal to reduce a speed of the fan in response to the ambient temperature measurement or the device temperature measurement lowering below a threshold to maintain a viscosity of a coolant flowing through the liquid-cooled or two-phase heat sink within a predetermined range; and
output a control signal to at least one space heater disposed in the medium-voltage drive to adjust a heater power level of the at least one space heater based on the ambient temperature measurement and the device temperature measurement.

17. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions to:
determine the control signal to output to the variable frequency drive based on a relationship between the fan speed and the ambient temperature measurement or the device temperature measurement over a predetermined temperature range.

Assignees

• Toshiba Int Corp

Inventors

• Daskalos Michael C
• Kleinecke John D

Classifications

• H05K7/20909

  Forced ventilation, e.g. on heat dissipaters coupled to components · CPC title

• H05K7/20945 Primary

  Thermal management, e.g. inverter temperature control · CPC title

• G05B19/05

  Programmable logic controllers, e.g. simulating logic interconnections of signals according to ladder diagrams or function charts · CPC title

• H05K7/20209

  Thermal management, e.g. fan control · CPC title