Thermal Analysis of MVDC Power Corridor

MIT Sea Grant has introduced the concept of the modular Integrated Power and Energy Corridor, which combines the majority of power for the ship into a small space making the thermal conditions of the corridor of great interest. This work quantified the effect of the current harmonics on the Joule losses and the resulting temperature field in a three-dimensional model of a Medium Voltage Direct Current (MVDC) multi-cable conduit, simulating two different geometries (four 1000A cables and sixteen 250A cables) at three different air flow conditions each, under representative current loading. It was discovered that the 1000A cases exceeded the acceptable temperature limits, while all the 250A cases were cool enough for use. To reduce the power corridor complexity, this study recommends the use of the 250A, no-air-flow case.