Review of engine cooling technologies for modern engines

Abstract

The performance of the conventional engine-cooling system has always been constrained by the passive nature of the system and the need to provide the required heat-rejection capability at high-power conditions. This leads to considerable losses in the cooling system at part-load conditions where vehicles operate most of the time. A set of design and operating features from advanced engine- cooling systems is reviewed and evaluated for their potential to provide improved engine protection while improving fuel efficiency and emissions output. Although these features demonstrate significant potential to improve engine performance, their full potential is limited by the need to balance between satisfying the engine-cooling requirement under all operating ambient conditions and the system effectiveness, as with any conventional engine-cooling system. The introduction of controllable elements allows limits to be placed on the operating envelope of the cooling system without restricting the benefits offered by adopting these features. The integration of split cooling and precision cooling with controllable elements has been identified as the most promising set of concepts to be adopted in a modern engine-cooling system.