Optimal Power Distribution of High-Voltage Coolant Heater for Electric Vehicles Through Electro-Thermofluidic Simulations

• Published in: International journal of automotive technology 2023, 24(4), 134, pp.995-1003
• Main Author: Son, Kwon Joong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Automotive Engineering; Coolants; Electric heating elements; Electric power distribution; Electric vehicles; Engineering; Heat exchange; Heat exchangers; High voltages; Thin films; Working fluids; 자동차공학
• ISSN: 1229-9138; 1976-3832
• DOI: 10.1007/s12239-023-0081-y

There is a lot of focus on improving the heating performance and efficiency of high-voltage coolant heaters for electric vehicles. It has been noticed that the geometry design of the coolant flow path in a heat-exchanging unit plays a primary role in enhancing the efficiency of the high-voltage heater. However, no previous study has been carried out on power distribution to heating elements, which are usually layered thin-film structures. This paper presents multiphysics-based computational work to explore the heat-exchanging characteristic of high-voltage heater systems with varying power distribution schemes via split electrodes. For a 7 kW heater with symmetric serpentine flow channels and two-split heating layers with a dual-input terminal, two power distribution cases of 3.75 kW: 3.25 kW and 4.00 kW: 3.00 kW showed better performance than the conventional single-input port configuration equivalent to the 3.50 kW: 3.50 kW case in terms of temperature uniformity in the working fluid and solid structures.