Power electronics systems comprising a two phase cold plate having an outer enclosure and an inner enclosure
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorsShailesh N. Joshi, Danny Lohan, Hitoshi Fujioka, Feng Zhou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A two-phase cold plate includes an outer enclosure having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet each fluidly coupled to a fluid pathway, an inner enclosure having a vapor cavity and a vapor outlet, and one or more wicking structures disposed in the outer enclosure. The one or more wicking structures fluidly couple the fluid pathway of the outer enclosure with the vapor cavity of the inner enclosure and the one or more wicking structures comprise a plurality of nucleation sites configured to induce vaporization of a cooling fluid and facilitate vapor flow into the vapor cavity of the inner enclosure.
Claims20
A two-phase cold plate comprising:
- an outer enclosure comprising a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet each fluidly coupled to a fluid pathway;
- an inner enclosure comprising a vapor cavity and a vapor outlet;
- and
- one or more wicking structures disposed in the outer enclosure, wherein:
- the one or more wicking structures fluidly couple the fluid pathway of the outer enclosure with the vapor cavity of the inner enclosure;
- and
- the one or more wicking structures comprise a plurality of nucleation sites configured to induce vaporization of a cooling fluid and facilitate vapor flow into the vapor cavity of the inner enclosure.
A power electronics system comprising:
- two-phase cold plate comprising an outer enclosure and an inner enclosure, wherein:
- the outer enclosure comprises a fluid outlet and a fluid inlet each fluidly coupled to a fluid pathway, the fluid pathway comprising a first edge channel opposite a second edge channel;
- the inner enclosure comprises a vapor cavity and a vapor outlet;
- one or more wicking structures are disposed within the fluid pathway of the outer enclosure fluidly coupling the vapor cavity of the inner enclosure and the fluid pathway of the outer enclosure;
- and
- the one or more wicking structures comprise a plurality of nucleation sites configured to induce vaporization of a cooling fluid and facilitate vapor flow into the vapor cavity of the inner enclosure;
- and
- one or more heat generating devices thermally coupled to the two-phase cold plate.
A method of removing heat from one or more heat generating devices, the method comprising:
- directing a cooling fluid into an outer enclosure of a two-phase cold plate though a fluid inlet of the outer enclosure, the two-phase cold plate further comprising an inner enclosure, wherein:
- the cooling fluid flows along a fluid pathway of the outer enclosure thereby removing heat from one or more heat generating devices thermally coupled to the fluid pathway of the outer enclosure;
- and
- at least a portion of the cooling fluid enters one or more wicking structures that fluidly couple the fluid pathway of the inner enclosure with a vapor cavity of the outer enclosure thereby vaporizing at least a portion of the cooling fluid at a plurality of nucleation sites such that vapor flows into the vapor cavity of the inner enclosure and removes heat from one or more heat generating devices thermally coupled to the vapor cavity of the inner enclosure;
- and
- removing heated liquid cooling fluid from the fluid pathway of the outer enclosure and heated vapor cooling fluid from the vapor cavity of the inner enclosure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.