Calculating temperature fields leads to important design decisions of the innovative (solid state transformer) SST developed within SSTAR project
After attending the AESMT conference, the SSTAR project has produced a paper entitled “Heat transfer mechanisms of a novel inductive power transformer and coupled simulation using FEA”.
The SST is an innovative technology in the field of electricity networks that could replace conventional transformers allowing for the optimisation of some technical aspects. In order to use this technology efficiently and to make electricity networks more sustainable, it is pivotal to calculate the temperature fields and thus ensure the stability of the whole process.
In particular, this paper focused on inductive power transformers (IPT), a type of SST that has even wider scope. The authors investigate the heat transfer mechanisms of an IPT submerged into a biodegradable dieletric fluid. From these, they have deduced that SSTs could be improved with a liquid cooling system which uses the biodegradable dieletric fluid. This now needs to be validated through additional experiments.
A more efficient SST will help to make grids smarter and more integrated, which will contribute to a decarbonised economy. SSTAR will make this possible.
Read more here.