Immersion-cooled inductors in dc-to-dc converters and methods of operating thereof

Abstract

Described herein are DC-DC converters having various immersion-cooling features enabling high-power applications, such as cross-charging electric vehicles. For example, the inductor of a DC-DC converter may be formed using metal and insulator sheets stacked and wound into an inductor coil assembly. The metal sheet comprises grooves, extending parallel to the coil axis and forming coil fluid pathways through this assembly thereby providing immersion cooling to the inductor. An inductor-cooling liquid may be pumped through these fluid pathways while being in direct contact with the metal sheet, at least around the grooves. In some examples, these grooves are distributed along the entire length of the metal sheet. Multiple inductors may be used to enable operations of multiple converter units, e.g., operating out of phase. These inductors may be fluidically interconnectors and have the same cooling features.