Cooling in a liquid-to-air heat exchanger
First Claim
1. A method to control cooling in a liquid-to-air heat exchanger with a fan and a pump forcing convection, the method comprising:
- adjusting a fan speed or a pump speed in response to a difference between a first gradient associated with adjusting fan speedand a second gradient associated with adjusting pump speed, the first gradient relating heat transfer rate to fan power input and the second gradient relating heat transfer rate to pump power input.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for controlling cooling an engine involve an engine coolant circuit with a radiator and an engine, a fan and a coolant pump are provided. The fan and pump may be electrically driven, driven by a variable speed clutch, hydraulically driven, or driven by some other actively controllable means. When an increase in heat transfer rate is indicated, the fan speed or the coolant pump speed may be increased. The choice of increasing the fan speed or increasing the pump speed is determined so that the power consumed is minimized. dQ/dP, the gradient in heat transfer rate to power, is determined for both the fan and the pump at the present operating condition. The one with the higher gradient is the one that is commanded to increase speed.
49 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method to control cooling in a liquid-to-air heat exchanger with a fan and a pump forcing convection, the method comprising:
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adjusting a fan speed or a pump speed in response to a difference between a first gradient associated with adjusting fan speed and a second gradient associated with adjusting pump speed, the first gradient relating heat transfer rate to fan power input and the second gradient relating heat transfer rate to pump power input. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method to control cooling in a liquid-to-air heat exchanger with a fan and a pump forcing convection, the method comprising:
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increasing fan speed when a first gradient is greater than a second gradient, the first gradient associating heat transfer rate to power for increasing fan speed and the second gradient associating heat transfer rate to power for increasing pump speed. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method to control cooling in a liquid-to-air heat exchanger with a fan and a pump forcing convection, comprising:
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increasing fan speed in response to a first gradient in heat transfer rate to power exceeding a second gradient in heat transfer rate to power for increasing pump speed; and increasing pump speed when the second gradient is greater than the first gradient. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification