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Thermal management system based on closed-loop pulsating heat pipe for electric motors

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Abstract

Thermal management of electric motor is a significant criterion concerning the performance of the motor since it relies on the working temperature. This paper presents an experimental investigation of a thermal management system with a design based on the passive action of closed-loop pulsating heat pipes (CLPHP). The evaporator is a curved copper section termed the cooling pad, which inculcates the pulsating fluid regime and directly contacts the motor surface. Four such sets of CLPHPs are mounted on a test bench to study the performance characteristics of the system. Water–acetone binary mixture is selected as the working fluid and is tested for optimum mixing ratio by varying the acetone concentration through 40%, 50% and 60%. Performance study is carried out under different current readings of 1 A, 2 A, and 3 A, resulting in respective heat loads of 27 W, 109 W, and 240 W until the steady-state temperature is achieved. Filling ratios (FR) are taken as 40%, 50% and 60% of the total volume. The results obtained show that a 50% filling ratio with a 50% mixing ratio (MR) gives the optimum working condition by which the cooling system can reduce the motor temperature by 33.3 °C with a 47% increase in overall heat transfer coefficient compared to the natural convection of motor surface.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

A:

Area (m2)

Bo:

Bond number

D:

Diameter (m)

Eö:

Eötvös number = (Bo)2

Q:

Heat input (W)

R:

Thermal resistance (K/W)

T:

Temperature (˚C)

ΔT:

\({T}_{e}-{T }_{\infty}\) (˚C)

U:

Coefficient of overall heat transfer (W/m2-K)

V:

Voltage (V)

I:

Current (A)

Umax :

Maximum uncertainty

σ:

Surface tension (N/m)

ρ:

Density (Kg/m3)

a:

Ambient

crit:

Critical

e:

Evaporator

liq:

Liquid

vap:

Vapour

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Acknowledgements

The authors of this work would like to thank the authorities of “Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering”, Trivandrum for their support to complete the experiment successfully. Also, the authors would like to acknowledge the authorities of “Brahmos Aerospace Trivandrum Ltd” for their technical support during the experimentation.

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No funding was received for conducting this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sree Chithra Thirunal College of Engineering, 695018, Trivandrum, India

    Mithun Sundar S, Swathi S, Kailash S. Prem & Chithrakumar V. K

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  1. Mithun Sundar S
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  2. Swathi S
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Correspondence to Chithrakumar V. K.

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S, M.S., S, S., Prem, K.S. et al. Thermal management system based on closed-loop pulsating heat pipe for electric motors. Heat Mass Transfer 58, 601–611 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-021-03127-5

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