August 12, 2019

Powerexpert was contracted to design a closed loop liquid cooling system for a 1.25MW power inverter.

The work included component selection, flow diagram, pressure drop vs flow modeling, thermal calculations, bill of material, and mechanical design support. Components included valves, manifolds, piping, hoses, pressure and temperature gauges, pressure and flow/temperature transducers, an air separator, a pressure relief valve, a temperature controlled mixing valve, expansion tank, strainer, pump, and remote air to water heat exchanger.

A spreadsheet tool was developed for determining the system flow and pressure operating point under different operating conditions (strainer condition, 50/60Hz pump operation, mixing valve position). It included calculation of heat load parallel path flows as well as meter/transducer values and various temperatures & pressures throughout the system with a graphical interface and drop down menus. System coolant volume, fill pump head, and a fill procedure were also provided to the customer.

A final comprehensive presentation was provided that summarized the work performed. Design guidance on the layout of the system was provided as Powerexpert worked closely with the customer to finalize the design.

The customer is pleased with how the system turned out so far and will continue to work with Powerexpert in the prototype build and testing phase of the project.

The customer’s end product will be used for grid connecting renewable energy storage.