Exploring the advantages of coupling composite phase change material and air-cooled vapor chamber for the heat management of charging power component

The implementation of supercharging stations is crucial for facilitating the popularization of electric vehicles. However, the thermal failure of the internal charging power components during high-power operation seriously affects the safety of the charging stations. This study presents the advantages of the developed VC-CPCM cooling system that integrates an air-cooled vapor chamber (VC) with the composite phase change material (CPCM) for effective thermal management of charging power components. The allowable operational duration, energy efficiency ratio (EER) and temperature difference of the charging power components are assessed under various heating powers, air velocities, and CPCM thermophysical parameters. The findings indicate that the VC-CPCM system achieves an improvement of over 80% in the allowable operational duration, even at a heating power of 6.8 MW/m³. Furthermore, the allowable operational duration is extended by 70.8% with an increase in airflow velocity. The homogeneity of the surface temperature of the power component is significantly enhanced when utilizing the VC-CPCM system. An increase of 237.1% in the allowable operational duration of the power component is observed when the filled CPCM thickness increases from 4 mm to 10 mm. Additionally, the allowable operational duration of the power component rises from 1146 s to 1733 s as the thermal conductivity of the CPCM increases from 6.40 W/(m·K) to 8.85 W/(m·K). Moreover, the results regarding the EER support the economic advantages associated with extending the allowable operational duration of the power component in the VC-CPCM cooling system, particularly at lower airflow velocities and with larger thermophysical parameters of the CPCM.