(Manchester, January 2021) Immersion Cooling fluids brand MIVOLT has been specified on a new Innovate UK project looking at immersion cooled battery packs and power electronics for electrically propelled urban air vehicles.
Manufactured by Trafford Park based M&I Materials, MIVOLT will supply its fluids and chemical engineering expertise to the two-year long InCEPTion project (Integrated Flight Control, Energy Storage and Propulsion Technologies for Electric Aviation). One of the many innovations within this project includes submerging the main components of the Electric Drive Unit (EDU) in MIVOLT for optimum thermal management. The research initiative will be led by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) specialist, Blue Bear Systems Research and is co-funded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.
Project InCEPTion is made up of a consortium from industry and academia , including Drive System Design, Ricardo, Dowty Propellers, University of Cambridge’s Whittle Laboratory and University of Salford’s Acoustics Research Centre.
The electric propulsion module being developed will be scalable, which allows a modular approach for developing systems for aircraft of different types and sizes, such as large cargo drones, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), general aviation aircraft and sub-regional aircraft. The project aims to enable a wide range of applications and unlock a new era of e-mobility across the UK.
The company will build on its findings from an existing Innovate UK research project it is leading called I-CoBat, which has investigated liquid immersion cooled battery technology alongside Ricardo and Warwick Manufacturing Group.
“We are thrilled to be involved in this initiative and for the opportunity to add our expertise to another UK-led innovation. This is a very exciting time for e-mobility in the aerospace sector, which of course comes with some significant engineering challenges. That’s why we’re looking forward to working with the InCEPTion project partners and drawing on our experience to see what can be achieved together.”
James O’Brien, M&I Materials product group director