Westcode Announces New Megawatt Press-Pack IGBT Product

IXYS Corp. announced that its wholly owned UK subsidiary, Westcode Semiconductors Ltd., has expanded its groundbreaking family of press-pack IGBTs. The new device has a voltage rating of 2.5kV and a current rating of 2250A.

The compact package design gives the new device unrivalled ‘Megawatt’ power density, with the advantages of high reliability and high efficiency. The unique hermetic ceramic package and internal construction provides double side cooling for the IGBTs, resulting in superior thermal, power cycling and power ratings, when compared to alternative technologies.

The compact fully hermetic package design is mechanically compatible with cooling systems (including total immersion systems such as oil) currently employed for 3000A/4000A GTO thyristors; this feature allowing either retrofitting or design continuation of existing systems. The high current rating allows for the conversion of old bi-polar drives to state of the art IGBT technology, without the need to replace the basic mechanical structure. Adopting a refurbishment approach to component obsolescence is both cost effective and environmentally friendly; as it reduces consumption of both materials and energy, when compared to replacement of the equipment.

Frank Wakeman, Marketing & Technical Support Manager commented, "The high power density of the device, and its unique mechanical construction, make this device ideal for new designs, especially in green power applications such as converters for wind and wave power generation in the high ’megawatt’ range. The high reliability and exceptional thermal ruggedness are also well suited to the demands of high power converters in traction applications, both for light rail and main line applications such as a high-speed electrical multiple unit or EMU."