Technological Iteration of Industrial-grade liquid-cooled Load Banks: From "Basic Heat Dissipation" to "Precise Regulation"

liquid-cooled load bank
 

(1) First-generation technology: Solving the "high-power heat dissipation bottleneck" and achieving basic load simulation

The core objective of the early industrial-grade liquid-cooled load bank was to break through the heat dissipation limitations of air-cooling technology. In high-power industrial scenarios (such as large generator testing and high-voltage frequency converter debugging), the equipment generates a large amount of heat during operation. Traditional air-cooled load banks rely on air convection for heat dissipation, which has low heat dissipation efficiency and is easily affected by environmental temperature, leading to a decline in load simulation accuracy and even causing equipment overheating faults. ​

To address this issue, the first-generation industrial-grade liquid-cooled load bank adopted the "liquid circulation heat dissipation" technology, using water or dedicated coolant as the heat dissipation medium. Through a closed circulation system, the heat generated by the load was quickly carried away. Compared with air cooling technology, liquid cooling has a 3 to 5 times higher heat dissipation efficiency, can support higher power load simulation (single-unit power can be increased from tens of kilowatts of air cooling to hundreds of kilowatts), and is less affected by ambient temperature, with load simulation accuracy stably within ±1%. However, the first-generation product still had obvious limitations: the degree of structural integration was high, and the load power could not be flexibly adjusted according to the testing requirements. The heat dissipation system is bound to the load module. When maintaining it, the entire system needs to be shut down, which affects the testing efficiency. It lacks intelligent monitoring functions and requires manual real-time monitoring of parameters such as temperature and pressure, resulting in relatively high operating costs. ​

(2) Second-generation technology: Optimize "flexibility and maintainability" to adapt to diverse scenarios

With the diversification of industrial testing scenarios (such as testing of new energy storage systems, verification of UPS power supplies in data centers, and debugging of ship power systems), the power requirements, installation environments, and testing processes for load banks vary significantly among different scenarios. The "fixed power" and "overall maintenance" modes of the first-generation products can no longer meet the demands. For this reason, the second-generation industrial-grade liquid-cooled load bank focuses on technological upgrades around "flexibility" and "maintainability". ​

In terms of flexibility, the second-generation product adopts a "modular load design", splitting the load units into standardized modules (such as 50kW/100kW single modules). Users can flexibly adjust the total load power (from hundreds of kilowatts to several megawatts) by increasing or decreasing the number of modules according to their testing requirements. Moreover, the modules support plug-and-play, eliminating the need to re-debug system parameters. The test preparation time has been significantly shortened. For instance, in the testing of energy storage systems, for energy storage battery packs of different capacities, users can quickly combine the corresponding load modules to achieve load simulation ranging from 100kW to 2MW, significantly enhancing adaptability. ​

In terms of maintainability, the second-generation product adopts a "separation of the cooling system and the load module" design. The cooling circulation system operates independently, and the load module can be disassembled and maintained separately. When a certain load module malfunctions, there is no need to shut down the entire system. Just replace the faulty module and the test can be resumed. The maintenance efficiency is increased by more than 60%, reducing the test interruption loss caused by equipment failure. In addition, some products have added a "self-diagnosis function for faults", which monitors the status of the module through built-in sensors. When abnormalities such as overcurrent, over-temperature, or leakage occur, it can automatically alarm and cut off the power supply of the faulty module, reducing the risk of equipment damage. ​

(3) Current technology: Focus on "precise control and intelligent linkage" to enhance the intelligence level of testing

With the advancement of industrial automation and digitalization, industrial testing is no longer content with "stable load simulation", but needs to be integrated with automated testing systems to achieve functions such as "precise control", "automatic data collection", and "remote monitoring", in order to meet the demands of intelligent production and unmanned testing. For this reason, the current industrial-grade liquid-cooled load bank has further strengthened its "intelligent control" and "system linkage" capabilities on the basis of the second-generation technology. ​

In terms of precise control, the current product adopts "digital load regulation technology", which adjusts the load resistance and reactance parameters in real time through a DSP digital signal processor to achieve continuous adjustment of load power (with an regulation accuracy of ±0.5%), and supports multiple load modes (such as resistive load, inductive load, capacitive load and mixed load). It can accurately simulate the actual operating load characteristics of different industrial equipment. For instance, in motor testing, the load bank can simulate the load changes under different working conditions such as motor start-up, operation, and braking, providing precise data support for motor performance optimization. ​

In terms of intelligent linkage, the current product integrates industrial Ethernet interfaces (such as Modbus-TCP, Profinet), which can be seamlessly connected with automated test platforms and SCADA systems to achieve remote setting of test parameters, real-time data collection and automatic analysis. Users can view real-time data such as load power, coolant temperature and system pressure through the monitoring center, generate test reports, and remotely control the start and stop of the load bank and adjust the load mode without on-site operation. For instance, in the testing of UPS power supplies in data centers, the load bank can be linked with the data center monitoring system, automatically adjusting the load power based on the operating status of the UPS power supply, simulating fault scenarios such as power outages and switching, achieving unmanned testing and significantly reducing labor costs.