Probleemstelling:

Bluways is a Belgian company which manufactures energy recuperation systems for electrical systems, such as electric busses, heavy duty trucks and off-high way vehicles. Important components of these systems are the power electronics, which for example allow charging batteries from the grid or driving an electric motor from the battery. Recently, new semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) have been introduced. With these materials, the power modules of the power electronics can become more compact and can resist higher temperatures. These changes will have an impact on the design of the cooling of these modules.

Bluways SiC & IGBT power modules for automotive traction | DCMâ„¢ | Danfoss

Figure 1. Bluways battery pack and power electronics (left) and SiC MOSFET with integrated cooling (right)

Doelstelling:

Bluways has several cases where they want to implement SiC or Gan technologies and wants to investigate the impact on the cooling strategy. The goals of this study are:

Compile a state-of-the-art overview of SiC and GaN cooling technologies and methods for application in heavy duty trucks/busses and off-high way environments;
Implement a simulation model for the promising technologies, taking into account the boundary conditions as specified by Bluways (type of SiC-GaN, power profile, ambient conditions, …);
Compare the different cooling technologies and optimize the cooling strategy according to different criteria (cooling performance, size, weight, noise levels, …).

This project aids in achieving sustainable development goal (SDG) 7: affordable and clean energy, by enabling the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable electricity as an energy source for the transport sector.

Goal 7 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs