Authors:

Sofiia Goncharuk

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About Paper:

Electric vehicles (EV) high-powered wireless charging stations can transfer up to 1 megawatt (MW) of electrical power within 35 minutes, however, they generate significant waste heat, even at high efficiencies (95%). This results in a heat flux of approximately 25 kW/m² - presenting a major thermal management challenge for the charging pad. Passive cooling strategies are important to ensure reliable operation without relying on bulky, noisy, or energy-consuming active thermal management systems. This study investigates a dynamic Phase Change Material (PCM)-based heat sink as a potential solution for passive thermal management in high- powered EV charging applications. A transient three-dimensional numerical simulation is implemented in ANSYS Fluent to model the phase change behavior of paraffin wax as the PCM. To validate the simulation, a corresponding experimental setup is designed and fabricated. The temperature distribution along the height of the PCM-based heat sink is analyzed and compared between the numerical and experimental results. Special attention is given to the influence of dynamic PCM behavior on maintaining thin solid-liquid interface closer to the power electronics (e.g., the ferrite core), thereby preventing superheating of the molten region. This improves thermal efficiency and temperature control throughout the system. Integrating a dynamic PCM system into a high-powered wireless charging station gives a passive, scalable, and energy-efficient cooling method that significantly improves thermal performance. By providing greater system reliability and minimizing temperature increase, PCM- based approach supports broader EV adoption by enabling faster, safer, cost-effective, energy-efficient, and more sustainable charging infrastructure. † Presenting Undergrad Author; ‡ Contributing Undergrad Author; * Undergrad Acknowledgment Keywords: Phase Change Materials (PCM); Passive Thermal Management; Wireless EV Charging Stations; Dynamic PCM; High Heat Flux

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Sofiia Goncharuk