US 9,545,037 B2Granted

Systems and methods for cooling electric drives

AssigneeBaker Hughes Incorporated

InventorsNicholas J. Tyleshevski, Keith D. Kabrich, Patrick B. Cochran, Don L. Inman, Gary D. Harrison, Gary L. Collins

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Systems and methods for cooling a drive for downhole electric equipment such as an ESP, wherein the drive's electrical components are contained in one or more sealed enclosures to protect them from contaminants in external cooling air. In one embodiment, the drive has two sealed compartments that contain electrical components. Air internal to these compartments is circulated through air-to-air heat exchangers that are positioned in an adjacent duct. Alternating horizontal and vertical passageways through the heat exchangers are formed by flat plates that are offset from each other and connected alternately at their top/bottom and side edges. Air external to the sealed compartments is circulated through the duct to cool the heat exchangers. The amount of air circulated through each heat exchanger may be controlled by valves that regulate airflow through one or more outlets from the duct.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A sealed drive system for downhole electric equipment, the sealed drive system comprising:

two or more electrical components configured to produce an electrical output waveform that drives the downhole electric equipment;
an enclosure forming two or more sealed compartments, wherein each of the two or more sealed compartments prevents external air outside of the two or more sealed compartments from entering the two or more sealed compartments, and wherein at least a respective one of the two or more electrical components is contained within each of the two or more sealed compartments;
two or more air-to-air heat exchangers, each of the two or more air-to-air heat exchangers adjacent to a respective one of the two or more sealed compartments, wherein the two or more air-to-air heat exchangers cools internal air within each of the two or more sealed compartments without allowing the external air to enter the two or more sealed compartments;
and
a duct which is adjacent to the two or more sealed compartments, wherein the two or more air-to-air heat exchangers are positioned within the duct, wherein the external air flows through the duct and through each of the two or more air-to-air heat exchangers wherein the duct has at least one wall in common with the two or more sealed compartments, wherein the two or more of the electrical components in the two or more sealed compartments are positioned in thermal contact with the at least one common wall and thereby dissipate heat by conduction through the at least one common wall,
wherein the two or more air-to-air heat exchangers each comprise a crossflow portion having a first set of passageways through which the internal air inside of the two or more sealed compartments flows and a second set of passageways through which the external air flows, the two or more air-to-air heat exchanger each further comprising a plurality of plates, wherein each plate has a substantially flat central portion, wherein the central portions of the plates are substantially parallel, and wherein for each of the plates, the central portion forms a wall between one of the passageways in the first set and one of the passageways in the second set.

3 more elements

A sealed drive system for an electric submersible pump, the sealed drive system comprising:

an upper sealed compartment and a lower sealed compartment, wherein the upper sealed compartment prevents air external to the upper sealed compartment from entering the upper sealed compartment and the lower sealed compartment prevents the air external to the lower sealed compartment from entering the lower sealed compartment, wherein the upper sealed compartment encloses a first set of electrical components and the lower sealed compartment encloses a second set of electrical components;
a duct adjacent the upper and lower sealed compartments and sharing a common wall with the upper and lower sealed compartments;
an upper heat exchanger positioned in the duct and mounted on the common wall, wherein a first portion of air internal to the upper sealed compartment flows through the upper heat exchanger;
and
a lower heat exchanger positioned in the duct and mounted on the common wall, wherein a second portion of the air internal to the lower sealed compartment flows through the lower heat exchanger;
wherein each of the upper and lower heat exchangers is an air-to-air crossflow heat exchanger having a plurality of crossflow passageways formed between a series of plates having substantially flat, parallel central portions.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/596,346Filed 14 Jan 2015 · us provisional application
Priority: 24 Jan 2014
Published: US 2015/0216073 A130 Jul 2015
Granted: 10 Jan 2017
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

H05K 7/20909
For power electronics, e.g. for inverters for controlling motor: forced ventilation, e.g. on heat dissipaters coupled to components
H05K 7/20136
Using a gaseous coolant in electronic enclosures: forced ventilation, e.g. by fans
H05K 7/20145
Forced ventilation, e.g. by fans: means for directing air flow, e.g. ducts, deflectors, plenum or guides
H05K 7/202
Using a gaseous coolant in electronic enclosures: air circulating in closed loop within enclosure wherein heat is removed through heat-exchangers