Electric & Hybrid magazine article: Effective cooling

Temperature control article published in Electric & Hybrid Marine Technology International Magazine in April 2016.

Compact water-cooling stations save space without compromising reliability or ease of maintenance

To maximize the power in hybrid or fully battery-powered vessels, cooling must be taken into consideration right from the beginning of the design. All materials have electrical resistance in normal temperatures, which means that when electricity is fed through, some power is lost and heat is generated. For example, in motor drives 1.5-2% of energy is wasted as heat. As a result, electrical components must be cooled to avoid overheating. The effectiveness of the cooling determines the maximum size of electrical components. Water cooling is much more effective than air cooling and enables small physical dimensions for motor drives. Nearly all motor drive manufacturers already have small-sized water-cooled products.

Compact water-coolers

To save space, the water-cooling station must also be compact. Adwatec has put a lot of effort into producing the smallest cooling stations available on the market. Given that it is challenging to minimize dimensions without sacrificing ease of maintenance and reliability, Adwatec has used patented innovations and manifold technology to reduce the two-pump version to a 0.6 x 0.6m footprint, and the one-pump version to a 0.4 x 0.6m footprint. The station design is simple and easy to maintain, while reliability has been increased because the number of possible leakage points has been minimized.

Maintaining a constant temperature in the cooling water is important. Increased temperature causes derating of power in the motor drive, and too low a temperature will increase the risk of condensation. Adwatec cooling stations keep the coolant temperature within set parameters, thanks to a sophisticated control program and an integrated three-way valve. Using the right materials in the cooling circuit is important to avoid galvanic corrosion in the aluminum heat sink. In Adwatec cooling systems, copper-based materials and carbon steels are not used in any form, which ensures the long life of the motor drive. Taking cooling into account in the early stages of powertrain design is made easier by taking advantage of Adwatec’s full range of cooling stations.

 

Headquartered in Finland, Adwatec is a water technology company with a global customer base. Since 2000, the company has been developing water cooling stations for a range of applications, including marine propulsion. The company has a strong focus on R&D, which enables it to provide new innovations and technical solutions.

29.12.2020