Towards Feasible Thermal Management Design of Electronic Control Module for Variable Frequency Air Conditioner Function in Extremely High Ambient Temperatures

The widespread adoption of variable frequency air conditioners (VFACs) in household appliances is primarily driven by their energy-saving qualities. However, extremely high ambient temperatures and limited space affect the heat dissipation of the electronic control module of a VFAC, resulting in a substantial increase in the temperature of its electronic chips. Its reliability and working performance will be largely compromised. To address this issue, we propose a feasible thermal management design based on thermoelectric coolers (TECs) that can cool electronic control modules working in an extremely high ambient temperature of 55 °C. Firstly, we designed four cooling schemes and established simulation models via Ansys Icepak. Then, we compared the chip temperatures across different schemes. The results indicate that the average temperatures of IPM, IGBT, FRD, and Rectifier Bridge were reduced by 13.58 °C, 14.03 °C, 15.88 °C, and 15.56 °C, respectively, in the scheme incorporating TECs, indicating that TECs have a significant impact on the thermal management of electronic control modules. This enables VFACs to operate at their full potential in extremely high ambient temperatures. This study explores the potential of using TECs to cool the electronic control modules of VFACs in extremely high ambient temperatures, suggesting that TECs can be effectively utilized at a large scale in the commercial VFAC field.