Passive and active thermal management
Improving the design of the power electronics is crucial. Electronical monitoring of every battery cell when charging or discharging, is essential for safe operation. This is the task of the battery management system (BMS), which measures current and temperature within the battery modules and packs, as well as the voltage of each cell. The common assump-tion is, that the BMS is extending the range of the battery, enabling longer battery life by compensating voltage differences between cells. An even more important role of the BMS concerns the thermal management: the BMS is detecting potential damage or hazardous be-haviour early enough to shut down operation before thermal damage or even fusing occurs.
Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs), serving as galvanic insulation, providing safety measures against shortcuts. TIMs are helping to reduce the delay time within the BMS significantly, reacting on critical situations. Depending on the application, the range of usable TIM’s can range from conventional passive heat control with high-performance TIMs, to new, active developments, such as thermal conductive films or elements, form-in-place TIMs, or different kinds of gap filler, such as elastic or plastic thermal pads, or disposable gap fillers.
Core competences
Proper thermal management solutions are widely varying. This is the reason, why ICT SUEDWERK is joining this year’s PCIM exhi-bition together with its cooperation partners Nucletron Group and ZFW (Center for Thermal Management). Main mission is to present a wide variety of components and materials, as well as tools and support for effective thermal design. A range of microwave and RF shielding solutions, protective electronics and relays (from miniature to 70kV) complete the portfoilo. One of the highlights of this year’s exhibition is a new measurement technology for thermal analysis, presented by ZFW.
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