Munich, Germany – July 7, 2015 – IR HiRel, an Infineon Technologies AG company, today announced the introduction of the HiRel HTB28 series, the industry’s first hermetic hybrid DC-DC converters rated at
185 ºC in a 1 inch wide package. The new devices are designed specifically for oil and gas exploration downhole tools and can withstand the high temperature as well as the high shock environment typically found in these applications. As oil and gas are more and more difficult to find, exploration takes place in environments which are challenging and where temperatures are higher.
This off-the-shelf product family with multiple output voltage options speeds time-to-market for downhole tool manufacturers in challenging designs requiring operating temperature up to 185 ºC. The HTB28 series provides high reliability through a conservative and rigorous design approach and using hermetic hybrid packaging technology that also enables a highly compact package 1 inch wide, 3.82 inch long (including the flange) and 0.41 inch high, saving approximately 20 percent of space compared to a PCB-based product. With its narrow width, the HTB28 series can fit in the smallest downhole drilling tools in the market or in development.
„DC-DC converters typically use optical feedback which doesn’t work at 185 ºC.
IR HiRel has leveraged its proprietary, magnetically coupled feedback topology and developed a unique IC to address this functionality and delivers a highly reliable, compact solution that reduces component count and size for downhole tools operating at high temperature,“ said Odile Ronat, Infineon’s IR HiRel Marketing Director.
The 5 W, 28 V input isolated DC-DC converters offer 69 percent minimum efficiency up to 185 ºC and feature internal input and output filters, low input quiescent current and overcurrent protection. Most downhole applications require no more than 1000 hours of life at 185 ºC. The HTB28 Series passed 1200 hours to exceed the maximum requirement.
Additionally, IR HiRel has selected and qualified components that operate at high temperature and designed around them to maintain performance over the entire temperature range.
