Patent Application
20200383233
The present disclosure relates to cooling electrical components, and more particularly to cooling aircraft rectifiers using turbo fan flow.
Electrical power conversion system in modern aircraft using a variety of electronic equipment create and dissipate a large amount of heat. High power loss electrical system equipment, such as power electronics and rectifier units, within HVDC systems create significant weight increases and complexity. A variety of devices and system arrangements are known and used in the art to cool the systems and electronics, primarily using oil as a coolant.
The conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for electronics cooling having improved performance and decreased weight of the system. There also remains a need in the art for such systems and components that are economically viable. The present disclosure may provide a solution for at least one of these remaining challenges.
An electrical power unit cooling system including at least one cooling fin configured to be thermally connected to a bus housing of the electrical power unit, the bus housing being configured to be attached to a surface of an aircraft fan housing such that the at least one cooling fin protrudes through the fan housing in order to be cooled by air flow within the fan housing.
The fins of the series of fins can be spaced apart based on a thickness of the fins, wherein a gap between each adjacent fin of the series of fins can be between 1 and 5 times the thickness of the fins and a ratio of the height of the fins to the width of the fins can be between 10 and 40, inclusive.
A base plate can secure the bus housing to the first surface of the aircraft fan housing.
The fan generated air flow can include fan bypass flow and the bus housing can be sealed from bypass flow. The first surface of the aircraft fan housing can be an outer surface of the fan housing. The rectifier unit can be electrically connected to a DC bus located within an avionics bay of the aircraft and the rectifier unit can be electrically connected to a generator located within the nacelle of the aircraft. A second rectifier unit can be electrically connected to a second generator. The first generator can be a starter generator power rated to at least 150 kVa. The rectifier unit can include a three-phase alternating current input, and a direct current output and the rectifier can process at least 540 volts.
The at least one cooling fin is attached to the bus housing by brazing, swaging, welding or additive manufacturing and can be part of the electrical power conversion system of an aircraft.
These and other features of the systems and methods of the subject disclosure will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings.
So that those skilled in the art to which the subject invention appertains will readily understand how to make and use the devices and methods of the subject invention without undue experimentation, preferred embodiments thereof will be described in detail herein below with reference to certain figures, wherein:
Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like reference numerals identify similar structural features or aspects of the subject disclosure. For purposes of explanation and illustration, and not limitation, a partial view of an exemplary embodiment of a rectifier unit in accordance with the disclosure is shown in
Referring to
Referring to
A method of cooling an electrical power unit is also conceived. The method includes flowing aircraft fan generated bypass air over a fin attached to a body of the electrical power unit, wherein the fin is at least partially positioned within a fan housing, and the body is completely positioned outside of the fan housing.
The methods and systems of the present disclosure, as described above and shown in the drawings, provide for cooling of an electronic system with superior properties including increased reliability and stability, and reduced size, weight, complexity, and/or cost. While the apparatus and methods of the subject disclosure have been showing and described with reference to embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that changes and/or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and score of the subject disclosure.
