IGBT Power Transistor Modules and X-Ray Machines

IGBT power transistor modules had been widely used in the manufacturing of X-ray machine.

Ultra modern X-ray machines benefit from size minimalization. The smaller the size in which the unit is packed, the more effective is the signal as the distance through which control signals need to pass is reduced. One of the problems with X-ray machine design is the need for effective cooling. All electronic components tend to produce a lot of waste heat. Technological advancements have had an influence on this heat generation, but it does seem to be something that so far is an inevitable consequence of the efficiency of the circuitry and needs to be dealt with.

Cooling systems have focused on relatively bulky air cooled heat sinks which limit the reduction in size of the machines. An innovation is a water cooled system which can be packaged into a much smaller overall size and at the same time provides the same overall cooling efficiency.

A typical CT X-ray machine is controlled by a combination of modules which incorporate IGBT and FRED chips. These components allow the overall size of the converter to be very small. In fact, with these sorts of components, the total surface area is around 25% of the generators that were used in the past. It is the compact nature of these modules that results in a waste heat problem that is resolved by a heat sink of some type. Technological advances in IGBT and semiconductor efficiency have to a certain extent meant that heat loss is the major stumbling block to these components, an issue for the future development of IGBT design, which has yet to be resolved.

Apart from relatively bulky air cooled heat sinks, water cooled heat exchangers have been invented to carry away excess heat from the converters used in modern X-ray machines. These heat exchangers have not been able to be reduced in size further because of limitations on their efficiency. This is because there is a thermal barrier between the exterior surface of the converter and that of the heat exchanger, which is typically bolted together.

An innovative way of providing a more efficient water cooling system is the ILC or Integral Water Cooled heat exchanger. In this system, the outer surface of the converter is actually the outer surface of the heat exchanger – they are one and the same structure. This allows the water that is circulating through the heat exchanger to have much more direct access to the heat emanating from the converter.

The comparison between an ILC cooled converter and the older air cooled one is enormous. The air cooled version has a heat sink which is around 10 x 40 x 50 cm in overall dimensions. This is much larger than the converter itself. The ILC heat exchanger is around the same size as the converter and the air cooler without the heat sink, so saving dramatically on overall size and therefore immediately improving the efficiency of the X-ray machine’s operations.

From a design point of view, the plumbing requirements of such an (ILC) system are relatively simple: the modules are either connected by piping directly to the water mains either in series or parallel. This can be achieved because the water chamber is isolated galvanically from the converter’s electrical circuit.

www.USComponent.com had been selling IGBT power transistor modules and serving elevator industry since 2001. Its customer includes Schindler Elevator Corporation, Otis, ThyssenKrupp, Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Electric, Kone, and Fujitec.

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