WO2017135070A1

WO2017135070A1 - Power conversion device

Info

Publication number: WO2017135070A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/001908
Authority: WO
Inventors: 晋太郎木暮; 紀博田中
Original assignee: 株式会社デンソー
Priority date: 2016-02-05
Filing date: 2017-01-20
Publication date: 2017-08-10
Also published as: JP6512125B2; JP2017139936A

Abstract

A power conversion device is provided with a cooler (20) for cooling a semiconductor module that has a semiconductor element incorporated therein. The cooler (20) comprises: a main body (24) through which a refrigerant for performing heat exchange with a semiconductor module (11) flows; an inflow section (21) by which the refrigerant flows into the main body (24); an outflow section (22) by which the refrigerant flows out from the main body (24); and an air removal section (23) for removing air from the main body (24). The air removal section (23) is provided to a position (P) on the main body (24) separated from the line of extension (L1) of the refrigerant inflow direction (D1) in the inflow section (21).

Description

Power converter

Cross-reference of related applications

This application is based on Japanese Application No. 2016-021063 filed on Feb. 5, 2016, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to a power conversion device including a cooler that cools a semiconductor module.

Vehicles such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles are equipped with a power conversion device that converts power between DC power and AC power. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a power conversion device that includes a semiconductor module incorporating a semiconductor element and a cooler (water jacket) that cools the semiconductor module. The cooler includes an inlet (inflow part) of the refrigerant flow path, an outlet (outflow part) of the refrigerant flow path, and an air vent for extracting air from the refrigerant flow path.

JP 2012-105370 A

The cooler of the power converter is configured such that the inflow portion and the air vent portion are arranged on the same axis, and the air flow direction in the air vent portion is the same as the refrigerant inflow direction in the inflow portion. Yes. In the case of this configuration, since the refrigerant that has flowed into the refrigerant flow path from the inflow portion easily flows along the refrigerant inflow direction, the problem of easily entering the air vent portion may occur. This cooler is equipped with guide fins for adjusting the refrigerant flow upstream of the air vent, but the inflow and air vents are arranged on the same axis, so they enter the air vent. It is difficult to completely block the flow of the refrigerant to be attempted by the guide fins. In addition, the addition of elements such as guide fins may cause a problem that the structure becomes complicated.

The present disclosure is intended to provide a power conversion device that can suppress the refrigerant flowing through the cooler that cools the semiconductor module from entering the air vent portion with a simple structure.

The first aspect of the present disclosure is:
A semiconductor module containing a semiconductor element; and a cooler for cooling the semiconductor module,
The cooler includes a main body portion through which a refrigerant that exchanges heat with the semiconductor module flows, an inflow portion into which the refrigerant flows into the main body portion, an outflow portion from which the refrigerant flows out from the main body portion, and the main body portion. An air vent part for venting air from the main body part, wherein the air vent part is provided at a position off the extended line in the refrigerant inflow direction in the inflow part of the main body part. .

According to the above power converter, the position where the air vent part is provided in the cooler is the position after the refrigerant flowing into the main body from the inflow part changes its flow direction. Therefore, the momentum of the refrigerant flowing through this position is lower than the momentum of the refrigerant before the flow direction is changed. For this reason, it can suppress that a refrigerant | coolant penetrate | invades into an air bleeding part compared with the case where an air bleeding part is provided on the said extension line. Further, it can be dealt with only by appropriately setting the position of the air bleeding portion, and since no separate member is required, it is possible to prevent the structure from becoming complicated.

As described above, according to the above aspect, the refrigerant flowing through the cooler that cools the semiconductor module can be prevented from entering the air vent portion with a simple structure.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawing
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the power conversion device according to the first embodiment. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a view of the semiconductor laminated unit in FIG. 1 as viewed from the outlet side of the air vent pipe, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the cooler in FIG. FIG. 5 is an inverter circuit diagram of the power converter, FIG. 6 is a plan view of a cooler in the power converter of Embodiment 2. FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a first modified example of the arrangement of the inflow pipe, the inflow pipe, and the air bleeding pipe of the cooler, FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically illustrating a second modification example of the arrangement of the inflow pipe, the inflow pipe, and the air bleeding pipe of the cooler, FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating a third modification example regarding the arrangement of the inflow pipe, the inflow pipe, and the air bleeding pipe of the cooler, FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating a fourth modification of the arrangement of the inflow pipe, the inflow pipe, and the air vent pipe of the cooler.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the power conversion device will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the drawings of this specification, unless otherwise specified, the first direction that is the stacking direction of the semiconductor modules in the semiconductor stacking unit is indicated by an arrow X, and the width direction of the semiconductor modules in the semiconductor stacking unit and the longitudinal direction of the cooling pipe are A certain second direction is indicated by an arrow Y, and a third direction orthogonal to both the first direction and the second direction is indicated by an arrow Z.

(Embodiment 1)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the power conversion device 1 according to the first embodiment includes a plurality of elements including a semiconductor multilayer unit 10,

electronic components

30, 31, 32 and a control circuit board 40. These plural elements are accommodated in a space defined by the case 2 and the

covers

3 and 4. The power conversion device 1 is mounted on, for example, an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or the like, and is used as an inverter that converts DC power supply power into AC power necessary for driving a drive motor.

The electronic component 30 is a reactor that converts electrical energy into magnetic energy using an inductor (hereinafter also referred to as “reactor 30”). The reactor 30 constitutes a part of a booster circuit for boosting the input voltage to the semiconductor module 11. The electronic component 31 is a smoothing capacitor (hereinafter also referred to as “capacitor 31”) that smoothes the input voltage or the boosted voltage. The capacitor 31 constitutes a part of a conversion circuit that converts DC power into AC power. The electronic component 32 is a converter (hereinafter also referred to as “converter 32”) that steps down the voltage of the DC power supply.

The semiconductor laminated unit 10 includes a plurality of semiconductor modules 11 and a cooler 20 having a plurality of cooling pipes 27. In the semiconductor stacked unit 10, a plurality of semiconductor modules 11 and a plurality of cooling pipes 27 are alternately stacked in the first direction X. That is, each semiconductor module 11 is sandwiched from both side surfaces in the first direction X by two cooling pipes 27. The cooling pipe 27 includes a refrigerant flow path 27a through which the refrigerant flows. The heat generated in the semiconductor module 11 moves to the refrigerant side flowing through the refrigerant flow path 27a of the cooling pipe 27, whereby the semiconductor module 11 is cooled.

Examples of the refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe 27 include natural refrigerants such as water and ammonia, water mixed with ethylene glycol antifreeze, fluorocarbon refrigerants such as Fluorinert (registered trademark), and chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants such as HCFC123 and HFC134a. A refrigerant, an alcohol refrigerant such as methanol or alcohol, a ketone refrigerant such as acetone, or the like can be used.

As shown in FIG. 3, the semiconductor module 11 includes a semiconductor element 12 such as an IGBT that converts DC power into AC power, a power terminal 13, and a plurality (five in FIG. 3) control terminals 14. It is equipped with. The power terminal 13 and the control terminal 14 extend from the semiconductor module 11 in opposite directions. The control terminal 14 is electrically connected to the control circuit board 40. The control circuit board 40 is configured to control the switching operation of the semiconductor element 12 in order to convert the DC power supplied to the semiconductor module 11 into AC power.

The cooler 20 has a function of cooling the semiconductor module 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the cooler 20 includes an inflow pipe 21, an outflow pipe 22, an air vent pipe 23, and a main body 24. The cooler 20 is made of a material having excellent thermal conductivity such as aluminum.

The inflow pipe 21 is configured as an inflow portion into which the refrigerant flows into the main body portion 24. The inflow pipe 21 is a cylindrical pipe extending linearly in the first direction X, and one end thereof is connected to the main body 24. The refrigerant inflow direction in the inflow pipe 21 is indicated by an arrow D1. In the main body 24, a refrigerant that exchanges heat with the semiconductor module 11 flows.

The outflow pipe 22 is configured as an outflow part from which the refrigerant flows out from the main body part 24. The outflow pipe 22 is a cylindrical pipe extending linearly in the first direction X, and one end thereof is connected to the main body part 24. The refrigerant outflow direction in the outflow pipe 22 is indicated by an arrow D2. In this case, the inflow pipe 21 and the outflow pipe 22 are arranged on the same side of the main body 24 in the first direction X, and the refrigerant inflow direction D1 in the inflow pipe 21 and the refrigerant outflow direction D2 in the outflow pipe 22 are opposite to each other. It is in the direction.

The main body 24 includes an inflow header pipe 25, an outflow header pipe 26, and the plurality of cooling pipes 27. The inflow header pipe 25 is configured to communicate with the inflow pipe 21 and extend linearly in the first direction X. The outflow header pipe 26 is configured to extend linearly in parallel with the inflow header pipe 25 and to communicate with the outflow pipe 22. The inflow pipe 21, the outflow pipe 22, and the air vent pipe 23 extend on the same plane as the plane in which both the inflow header pipe 25 and the outflow header pipe 26 extend.

The plurality of cooling pipes 27 are spaced apart from each other and extend in the second direction Y so as to connect the inflow header pipe 25 and the outflow header pipe 26, respectively. Therefore, the refrigerant flowing into the inflow header pipe 25 from the inflow pipe 21 flows through the cooling pipes 27 toward the outflow header pipe 26 and then flows out from the outflow pipe 22 through the outflow header pipe 26.

The air vent tube 23 is configured as an air vent for extracting air from the main body 24. The air vent pipe 23 extends on the same plane as the plane on which both the inflow pipe 21 and the outflow pipe 22 extend. The air vent pipe 23 is a cylindrical pipe extending linearly in the first direction X, and one end thereof is connected to a predetermined position P of the main body 24. This position P is the position farthest from the outflow pipe 22 in the outflow header pipe 26 of the main body 24, and is an extension line L1 in the refrigerant inflow direction D1 in the inflow pipe 21 (the virtual line indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Line) It is a position off the top.

Here, “the position P deviated from the extension line L1 of the refrigerant inflow direction D1 in the inflow pipe 21” is an imaginary line extending continuously in a direction in which the refrigerant flows from the inflow pipe 21 into the main body 24. It is defined as the position excluding the position passing through the line. This position P can also be referred to as a position after the refrigerant flowing into the main body 24 from the inflow pipe 21 changes its flow direction. On the other hand, a position until the refrigerant flowing into the main body 24 from the inflow pipe 21 changes its flow direction can be defined as a position on the extension line L1 of the refrigerant inflow direction D1 in the inflow pipe 21. In the case of this embodiment, this position corresponds to each part of the inflow header pipe 25.

The other end of the air vent pipe 23 is connected to a reservoir tank (not shown). Therefore, the air in the main body 24 is extracted from the main body 24 at the position P and discharged to the reservoir tank through the air vent pipe 23. An air bleeding direction in the air bleeding tube 23 is indicated by an arrow D3. In this case, the air vent pipe 23 is disposed on the opposite side of the inflow pipe 21 and the outflow pipe 22 in the first direction X of the main body 24, and the air vent direction D3 in the air vent pipe 23 is the refrigerant outflow direction D2. It is the reverse direction (the same direction as the refrigerant inflow direction D1). Thereby, it is possible to keep the size of the cooler 20 in the second direction Y small. Further, the air vent pipe 23 is disposed on an extension line of the outflow pipe 22, and the air vent direction D3 (air vent pipe 23) and the refrigerant outflow direction D2 (outflow pipe 22) are on the same straight line L2. Thereby, the dimension of the cooler 20 in the second direction Y can be further reduced. Further, the structure of the cooler 20 can be simplified by connecting the air vent pipe 23 to one end of the outflow header pipe 26.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the inverter circuit 100, the switching operation (on / off operation) of the semiconductor element 12 incorporated in each semiconductor module 11 is controlled by the control circuit board 40, and the DC power of the DC power supply B1 is AC. Converted to electric power.

In this embodiment, the reactor 30 and the semiconductor module 11a constitute the boosting unit 100a of the inverter circuit 100. The booster 100a has a function of boosting the voltage of the DC power supply B1. On the other hand, the conversion unit 100b of the inverter circuit 100 is configured by the capacitor 31 and the semiconductor module 11b. The converter 100b has a function of converting the DC power that has been boosted by the booster 100a into AC power. The three-phase AC motor M for driving the vehicle is driven by the AC power obtained by the converter 100b.

The converter 32 is connected to the DC power supply B1, and is used to step down the voltage of the DC power supply B1 and charge the auxiliary battery B2 having a lower voltage than the DC power supply B1. The auxiliary battery B2 is used as a power source for various devices mounted on the vehicle.

Next, the effect of the power converter 1 of Embodiment 1 is demonstrated, referring FIG.

In the cooler 20 of the power converter 1, the refrigerant that has flowed from the inflow pipe 21 into the inflow header pipe 25 of the main body 24 changes its flow direction by about 90 degrees and flows through each cooling pipe 27. Thereafter, the refrigerant flowing through each cooling pipe 27 changes its flow direction by approximately 90 degrees, flows through the outflow header pipe 26 of the main body 24, and then flows out from the outflow pipe 22. At this time, the position P where the air vent pipe 23 is provided is a position after the refrigerant flowing into the inflow header pipe 25 of the main body 24 from the inflow pipe 21 changes its flow direction.

Therefore, the momentum of the refrigerant flowing through the position P is lower than the momentum of the refrigerant flowing through the inflow pipe 21 and before changing the flow direction, that is, the refrigerant flowing through the inflow header pipe 25. For this reason, it can suppress that a refrigerant | coolant penetrate | invades into the air vent pipe 23 compared with the case where the air vent pipe 23 is provided on the said extension line L1. Further, it can be dealt with only by appropriately setting the position of the air vent pipe 23, and since no separate member is required, it is possible to prevent the structure from becoming complicated. As a result, it is possible to suppress the refrigerant flowing through the cooler 20 that cools the semiconductor module 11 from entering the air vent pipe 23 with a simple structure.

In the case of this cooler 20, the main body 24 has a plurality of cooling pipes 27 stacked with the plurality of semiconductor modules 11. Thereby, the semiconductor module 11 can be efficiently cooled by the cooling pipe 27.

(Embodiment 2)
The power conversion device according to the second embodiment includes a cooler 120 as illustrated in FIG. 6 instead of the cooler 20 according to the first embodiment. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. Accordingly, only the cooler 120 will be described here, and the description of the other components will be omitted. In FIG. 6, the same elements as those shown in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The cooler 120 includes an inflow pipe 21, an outflow pipe 22, an air vent pipe 23, and a main body 124. One end of the inflow pipe 21 is connected to the main body 124. One end of the outflow pipe 22 is connected to the main body 124. One end of the air vent tube 23 is connected to a predetermined position P of the main body 124. This position P is a position deviated from the extended line L1 (the phantom line indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6) of the refrigerant inflow direction D1 in the inflow pipe 21.

The main body portion 124 includes a space 124a serving as a refrigerant flow path through which the refrigerant flows. A plurality of semiconductor modules 11 are attached to the outer surface 124 b of the main body 124. In short, the main body 124 is different from the main body 24 having a plurality of cooling pipes 27 formed by combining a plurality of pipes and being stacked with the plurality of semiconductor modules 11 like the cooler 20 in the first embodiment. Yes.

According to the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the refrigerant flowing through the cooler 120 that cools the semiconductor module 11 can be prevented from entering the air vent pipe 23 with a simple structure.
In addition, the same effects as those of the first embodiment are obtained.

Although the present disclosure has been described based on the embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and structures. The present disclosure includes various modifications and modifications within the equivalent range. In addition, various combinations and forms, as well as other combinations and forms including only one element, more or less, are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

In the first embodiment, the refrigerant inflow direction D1 in the inflow pipe 21 and the refrigerant outflow direction D2 in the outflow pipe 22 are opposite to each other, and the air vent direction D3 in the air vent pipe 23 is opposite to the refrigerant outflow direction D2. In addition, the configuration in which the air bleeding direction D3 and the refrigerant outflow direction D2 are on the same straight line L2 is illustrated, but the present configuration may be changed as shown in FIGS.

Both the first modified example shown in FIG. 7 and the second modified example shown in FIG. 8 are configured so that the air vent pipe 23 in the cooler 20 is out of the extension line of the refrigerant outlet direction D2 in the main body 24. It is the example arrange | positioned in the position. Such an arrangement can also be applied to the cooler 120 described above.

In the third modification shown in FIG. 9, in the cooler 20 described above, the refrigerant inflow direction D1 in the inflow pipe 21 and the refrigerant outflow direction D2 in the outflow pipe 22 are the same direction, and the air vent pipe 23 It is the example arrange | positioned in the position which remove | deviated from the extension line of the refrigerant | coolant outflow direction D2. Such an arrangement can also be applied to the cooler 120 described above.

In the fourth modification shown in FIG. 10, in the cooler 20, the refrigerant inflow direction D1 in the inflow pipe 21 and the refrigerant outflow direction D2 in the outflow pipe 22 are the same direction, and the air vent direction D3 in the air vent pipe 23 is the same. Is a direction opposite to the refrigerant inflow direction D1. Such an arrangement can also be applied to the cooler 120 described above.

Each of the first to fourth modified examples includes at least the requirement that the position P where the air vent pipe 23 is provided is a position deviated from the extended line L1 in the refrigerant inflow direction D1, and thus the first and second embodiments. In the same manner as the above, there is an effect that the refrigerant can be prevented from entering the air vent pipe 23 with a simple structure.

In each of the first and second embodiments and the first to fourth modified examples, the air vent pipe 23 extends on a plane different from the plane on which both the inflow pipe 21 and the outflow pipe 22 extend. You can also. For example, the air bleeding tube 23 may extend in a direction intersecting with a plane defined by the first direction X and the second direction Y.

In the above embodiment, the case where the inflow portion, the outflow portion, and the air vent portion of the cooler are configured by piping is described. However, the inflow portion, the outflow portion, and the air vent portion of the cooler are configured by joints, flanges, and the like. May be.

Claims

A semiconductor module (11) containing the semiconductor element (12), and coolers (20, 120) for cooling the semiconductor module,
The cooler includes a main body portion (24, 124) through which a refrigerant exchanging heat with the semiconductor module, an inflow portion (21) into which the refrigerant flows into the main body portion, and a refrigerant outflow from the main body portion. And an air vent part (23) for extracting air from the main body part, wherein the air vent part is in the refrigerant inflow direction (D1) in the inflow part of the main body part. The power converter device (1) provided in the position (P) off the extension line (L1).
In the cooler, the refrigerant inflow direction (D1) in the inflow portion and the refrigerant outflow direction (D2) in the outflow portion are opposite to each other, and the air vent direction (D3) in the air vent portion is the refrigerant outflow. The power conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the power conversion device is configured to be in a direction opposite to the direction.
The power converter according to claim 2, wherein the cooler is configured such that the air bleeding direction in the air bleeding part and the refrigerant outlet direction in the outflow part are on the same straight line (L2). .
The main body portion of the cooler communicates with the inflow portion and extends in a straight line, and extends in a straight line parallel to the inflow header tube and communicates with the outflow portion. An outflow header pipe (26), and a plurality of cooling pipes (27) that are spaced apart from each other and each connect the inflow header pipe and the outflow header pipe,
The power conversion device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of the semiconductor modules and the plurality of cooling pipes are alternately stacked.