New Industry Products

Westcode Announces New Insulated Water Cooler for Very Large Power Semiconductors

November 10, 2009 by Jeff Shepard

IXYS Corp. announced that its wholly owned UK subsidiary, Westcode Semiconductors Ltd., has launched a new addition to its range of power semiconductor water coolers. The insulated Aluminium Nitride cooler has a 133mm diameter contact plate, making it suitable for press-pack devices with electrode contacts up to 125mm diameter.

The new coolers incorporate geometric water channels designs to ensure low values of thermal resistance even at moderate coolant flows, while retaining a robust structure compatible with the high clamping force required by large area power semiconductors. The geometric design used for the water channels also ensures a highly uniform cooling over the entire surface area. Typical cooler to input water thermal resistance for flow rate of 10 liters/minute are 5.2 Deg.K/kW (two coolers + 1 semiconductor) and 6.1 Deg.K/kW (three coolers + 2 semiconductors). Isolation voltage between water and the device is 10kV (RMS for 1minute).

"These isolated coolers allow the implementation of very high power density high voltage solutions, without the need for expensive and complex de-ionised water systems," commented Ashley Golland, Global High Power Applications Manager. "In applications such as traction drives, marine drives and wind turbines, the existing liquid coolant systems may be extended to the power electronics resulting in lower system cost, weight and noise levels and increased energy efficiency."

The high quality surface finish, typical flatness 10 micrometers, makes the cooler well suited for use with Westcode’s high performance Press-pack IGBTs (T1800EB45A, T2250AB25E & T2400EB45E). Additionally the coolers are suitable for use with all large area power devices, such as thyristors and Rectifier diodes, with contact electrodes from 90mm to 125mm diameter and clamping force up to 13 N per square millimeter. Typical applications include Megawatt drives and high power rectifiers, such as chemical power supplies or trackside substations, as well as all applications in the utilities field.