Emerging Trends and Challenges in Thermal Management of Power Electronic Converters: A State of the Art Review

Recently, the thermal management of power electronic converters has gained significant attention due to the continuous trend of developing very compact power electronic converters with high power density. With the evolution of power semiconductor devices, high operating temperatures and large thermal cycles have become possible, necessitating a significant improvement in thermal system designs. Researchers have made significant efforts to develop effective thermal management systems for improving the reliability and lifetime of power electronic converters. This article intends to present a thorough review of thermal management systems employed in power electronics cooling. The applied thermal management techniques have been reviewed from the perspective of electrical parameter regulation and heat dissipation control. Regulation of electrical parameters involves active thermal control, which is a method for controlling junction temperature and thermal cycling of power semiconductor devices. The active thermal control implementation processes reviewed in this article consist of increasing overload capacity, manipulating switching and conduction losses, employing modified modulation process, balancing thermal stress at the converter level, and controlling thermal stress at the system level. Control of heat dissipation can be achieved through direct and indirect cooling of power electronic converters with air or liquid as the coolant. The effectiveness and implementation methods of these cooling techniques, such as channel cooling, phase change material-based cooling, immersion cooling, jet impingement and spray cooling, are reviewed in this paper. Moreover, performance-enhancing ideas and challenges for these techniques are discussed. The primary objective of this review paper is to bridge the existing gap in the literature by offering a comprehensive comparison of commonly employed thermal management techniques.