Unit A – Engine cooling system

Practical lecture – Unit A

Analytical design of a liquid-

cooled system for a passenger
vehicle

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 1

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Data – first part

Dimensioning of the cooling system radiator of a compression

ignition engine to be installed on a segment C vehicle.

Engine: 4 cylinders, 2 valves per cylinder, overall displacement

1910 cm3.

The dimensioning must be determined for conditions of

maximum engine power employed and 140 km/h vehicle speed.

The cooling module is composed by:

• condenser (dimensions 600x305x16 mm);
• radiator;
• 250 W electrofan.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 2

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Data – first part

Angular
speed
Power Qeng Qoil
[rpm] [kW] [kW] [kW]
1250 17.13 15.91 3.11
1500 26.68 20.33 3.65
1750 37.49 26.21 4.52
2000 44.32 27.04 5.44
2250 50.27 26.13 6.07
2500 56.08 30.04 7.25
2750 58.65 30.28 7.78
3000 62.99 29.71 8.11
3250 67.40 32.43 8.20
Table 1
3500 70.34 35.06 8.49 Mechanical power employed and
3750 73.50 37.61 8.77 thermal power exchanged to engine
4000 74.53 40.24 9.01 water and oil at full load as a function of
the engine angular speed
4250 75.26 43.04 9.06

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 3

 Unit A – Engine cooling system Tüm soğutma sistemindeki kayıplar
radyatördeki kayıpların 1.2 katı kabul edilmiştir.
Data – first part

coolant fluid: mixture 50% acqua – 50% ethylene glycol

Flow Gw p Flow Gw p The relation

[l/h] [mbar] [l/h] [mbar] between the pump
4920 1920 0 0.0 angular speed and
6000 1750 800 9.9 that of the engine is
7500 1430 1600 29.6  = 1.302.
9050 1000 3200 98.5
10000 700 4800 216.7
11200 310 6400 389.2 For simplicity the
11600 150 9600 862.1 cooling circuit tube
pressure losses are
Table 2 Table 3 assumed to the 20%
Cooling pump Pressure losses in
radiator cooling of those of the
characteristics at 4500
rpm engine speed. side. radiator.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 4

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Data – first part

Thermal exchange coefficient Kr [kW/(m2K)]

Air speed Vr Air flow ma
for several coolant liquid flows
[m/s] [kg/s] 0.6 kg/s 1.1 kg/s 1.7 kg/s 2.3 kg/s
1 0.226 1.10 1.14 1.16 1.17
2 0.452 1.95 2.13 2.22 2.25
3 0.678 2.62 2.96 3.17 3.26
4 0.905 3.09 3.60 3.96 4.11
5 1.131 3.45 4.10 4.62 4.83
6 1.357 3.73 4.51 5.18 5.47
7 1.583 3.96 4.86 5.68 6.04
8 1.809 4.15 5.15 6.12 6.55
9 2.035 4.31 5.40 6.51 7.01

Table 4
The considered radiator’s thermal exchange coefficient (thickness = 40 mm) as
function of the speed (and air flow) for several coolant flows, evaluated at same
pressure and temperature test conditions.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 5

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Data – first part

Air flow ma p vehicle p condenser p radiator

[kg/s] [Pa] [Pa] [Pa]
0 0 0 0
0.2 6 13 25
0.4 23 33 58
0.6 51 59 100
0.8 90 91 150
1 140 129 208
1.2 202 174 274
1.4 275 225 349
1.6 359 282 432
1.8 454 346 524
2 560 415 624

Table 5
Pressure losses on air side due to the vehicle (taken as resistance offered to the air
movement by the hood/bumper front entrance – underhood compartment – exit section),
in the condenser and in the radiator.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 6

 Unit A – Engine cooling system
p=p2-p1 (fan çıkışı –fan girişi)
Data – first part

Flow Ga Head
[m3/h] [Pa]
0 413
500 368
1000 321
1500 269
2000 208
2500 135
3000 48
3500 -57
4000 -182
4500 -330
5000 -506
5500 -710 Table 6
6000 -947 Characteristics of the fan at 3550 rpm.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 7

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Data – first part

Coolant fluid boiling temperature at absolute working pressure (2.4 bar) Tboil [°C] 132.5
External environment temperature (standartta verilen) Tamb [°C] 30
External environment pressure pamb kPa 100
Coolant density w [kg/m3] 1020
Air density a [kg/m3] 1.15
Mass thermal capacity at coolant liquid constant pressure cw [kJ/(kgK)] 3.5
Mass thermal capacity at air constant pressure ca [kJ/(kgK)] 1.012

Table 7
Air and coolant fluid properties

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 8

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Data – first part

ATB index for the dimensioning of the system ATB [°C] 71.7
Vehicle front pressure coefficient Cp,inlet [-] 0.8
Engine compartment pressure coefficient Cp,outlet [-] -0.2
Vehicle travelling speed Vvehicle [km/h] 140
Radiator length per height ratio L/H [-] 1.944
Heat exchanged at air conditioning system condenser Qcond [kW] 10

Table 8
Other project data

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 9

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Data – first part

Evaluate:

• Radiator frontal surface dimensions (area, height and

width);

• temperature of coolant fluid and air entering and exiting

the radiator.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 10

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Data – second part

Verify that the cooling module dimensioned satisfies the

ATB index required by the vehicle working conditions in 2nd
gear with tow and in road with 6% inclination at 50 km/h.

The required ATB index in these conditions is 53.4 °C.

For these working conditions it can be assumed engine

speed of 3250 rpm and thermal power to dissipate
equivalent to 75% of the precedent case. (tam yük durumunda
soğutma sıvısına aktarılan enerjinin yaklaşık %75’i)

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 11

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Introduction

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 12

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

The aim is to evaluate analytically the frontal area of the

engine water radiator.

In reality, the design activity is frequently finding which among

the available cooling modules is better adapted to the project
of the vehicle being developed.

The dimensioning of the cooling system is carried out

according to the following steps:
• initial maximum calculation;
• monodimensional analysis;
• tridimensional analysis;
• experimental verification.

Sometimes it is possible to perform experimental verification

on test benches or prototypes while the project is still in
development phase.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 13

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Dimensioning

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 14

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

The system elements to be considered are:

• engine
• engine water radiator
• exchanger for oil of the water-oil type
• condenser (for air conditioning circuit)
• electrofan
• vehicle

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 15

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Thermal exchange

Teng out

The quantity of heat transferred

from the engine to the coolant
fluid is:
Tweng
Q&eng  cw  m&w Teng out  Teng in  mw

Q&eng = quantity of heat transferred from the engine to the coolant [W];
cw = coolant fluid mass thermal capacity at constant pressuresdl [J/(kgK)];
mw = coolant fluid flow in the circuit [kg/s];
Teng out = coolant liquid temperature exiting the engine
Teng in = coolant liquid temperature entering the engine

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 16

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Thermal exchange Toil in

m&oil
Teng out Tw in
WATER-OIL
EXCHANGER
Having a water-oil exchanger
for oil cooling, the global heat Toil out
transfered to the fluid becomes:
Tw out
Tweng
mw

Q&w  Q&eng  Q&oil  cw  m&w Teng out  Teng in  
 
 coil  m&oil Toil out  Toil in  cw  m& T
w win  Twout 
Q&oil = quantity of heat transfered from the oil to the coolant fluid [W];
coil = oil mass thermal capacity at constant pressure [J/(kgK)];
m&oil = oil flow in the circuit [kg/s];
Toil out = oil temperature exiting the exchanger
Toil in = oil temperature entering the exchanger
Twout = water temperature exiting the radiator
Twin = water temperature entering the radiator
Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 17
 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Thermal exchange

The quantity of heat Qw received

by the coolant fluid must be Ta out ma
transfered to the air according
the following thermal exchange Ta in
relation:

a Ta out  Ta in 
Qw  ca  m

ca = air mass thermal capacity at constant pressure;

ma = air flow crossing through the radiator;
Ta out = air temperature exiting the radiator;
Ta in = air temperature entering the radiator.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 18

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Thermal exchange
CONDENSER

Considering the presence of the

condenser before the radiator the Ta out ma
air temperature entering the
radiator will be higher than that of Ta in
Tamb
the external environment:

Q&cond  ca  m&a Tain  Tamb 

Tamb = external environment air temperature

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 19

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Thermal exchange

The quantities of heat Q&eng and Q&oil are evaluated

experimentally by the engine manufacturer (table 1).
60
Q_eng
Q_oil
50 Q_w
Thermal power (kW)

40

30

20

10

0
1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Angular speed [rpm]

Thermal power transferred from the engine water and from the oil at full load

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 20

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Dimensioning conditions

• Engine working in maximum power conditions;

• Vehicle travelling at V speed of 140 km/h.

From table 1

Pu max  75.26 kW
N Pu max  4250 giri
rpm min

Q&eng  43.04 kW Motordan soğutma suyuna aktarılan ısı

Q&oil  9.06 kW Motor yağından soğutma suyuna aktarılan ısı

Q&  52.10 kW
w Soğutma suyuna aktarılan toplam ısı

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 21

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

ATB temperature

ATB  Tamb  Tboil  Twin

Tamb = external environment temperature;

Tboil = coolant liquid boiling point at internal circuit conditions
(depends on pressure and on the water/ethylene glycol
concentration);
Tw in = coolant temperature at radiator entrance.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 22

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water temperature at radiator entrance

Imposing an ATB value in the previous equation imposes

maximum coolant temperature at radiator entrance.

Tamb = 30 °C (from standard);

Tboil = 132.5 °C (considering water-ethylene glycol composition
of 50% and an absolute pressure in the expantion tank of
2.4 bar)
ATB = 71.7 °C (imposed value from standard for full load tests
at 140 km/h)

Thus it is possible to calculate water temperature at radiator entrance:

Twin  Tamb  Tboil  ATB  30  132.5  71.7  90.8 C

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 23

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water flow

The coolant fluid flow can be found by fiding the intersection

between the pump internal characteristics (table 2) and circuit
resistance water side (table 3).
2500

2000
Delta p [mbar]

1500

4500 rpm

1000

500

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000
Liquid flow [l/h]

Characteristic curve of pump head

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 24

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water flow

In the case of having the head curve at engine rpm N1

corresponding to maximum rotation is different to that of N2
corresponding to maximum power, the flow and head values
(in this case expressed in terms of pressure loss p) are
obtained with the following equations (taking advantage of
fluid dynamics similarity):

N2
Gw 2  Gw1
N1
2
 N2 
p2  p1  
 1
N

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 25

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water flow

1200

1000

800
Delta p [mbar]

radiator
600
Complete circuit

400

200

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Water flow [l/h]

Pressure loss water side

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 26

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water flow
2 2
p 2  N 2   4250
       0,892  p 2  p1 .0,892
p1  N1   4500

Gw2  N 2   4250
    0,944  Gw2  Gw1 .0,944
Gw1  N1   4500

Flow Gw p
[l/h] [mbar]
4646 1712,64
5666 1561
7083 1275
8547 892
9444 624,4
Table 2*
10577 276,52
Cooling pump characteristics
10955 133,8 at 4250 rpm engine speed.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 27

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water flow

1800
Circuit resistance
1600 Pump
Pump head at working
1400 4250 rpm
point
1200
Delta p [mbar]

1000

800

600

400

200

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
flow [l/h]

l
Gw  8640
h

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 28

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water temperature at radiator exit

From the radiator thermal exchange water side equation

Q&w Q&w
Twout  Twin   Twin  
cw  m&w cw   w  Gw
52.1
 90.8   84.7 C
8640
3.5 1020 
1000  3600

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 29

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air flow

The air flow is found from the intersection between the

characteristic of head due to fan (table 6) and the relative
movement of air and that of the resistance due to radiator,
condenser and of the general losses passing through the
engine compartment (table 5).

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 30

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air flow

1800
Dp vehicle
1600
Dp vehicle + Dp condenser
1400
Dp vehicle + Dp condenser +
Dp radiator
1200
radiator
Delta p [Pa]

1000

800
condenser
600

400
vehicle
200

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Air flow [m3/h]

Total resistance (permeability) evaluation air side

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 31

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air flow

The head due to vehicle movement is calculated evaluating the

pressure difference between air at engine compartment entrance
and exit.
The pressure losses at the entrance grills and at underhood exit
are represented by the pressure coefficient Cp,inlet e Cp,outlet.

The coefficient Ci is a mixture of the losses observed when air is

divided on the bumper and is directed to different grills.
pti  pS
Ci  Pti = aspiration total pressure
1 PS = free air static pressure
V2 V = vehicle speed
2 1
The total pressure is evaluated as pti  pS  C p ,inlet V2
2
At high speeds, wind tunnel tests suggest average value for Ci
comprised between 0.7 and 0.8. In this case it is considered
Cp,inlet = 0.8.
Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 32
 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air flow

In the same way, the total pressure at exit specified for the contour
conditions derives from the pressure coefficient at exit:

1
pto  pS  C p ,outlet V2
2

Cp,outlet can be estimated through test in wind tunnel and is

approximately –0.2.
The head due to the vehicle speed is:

aria   C p ,inlet  C p ,outlet  V   C p ,inlet  C p ,outlet  Vveicolo

1 1
p flusso
air flow
2 2

2 2 vehicle
2
1  140 
 0.8   0.2    1.15     870 Pa
2  3.6 

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 33

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

1D scheme of underhood air network

Conducts
Sudden around engine
larger width Heat exchangers Length
Losses on intake
Aimb, Asboc Frontal area radius
Area,[Link]
. .K
Superior bypass DP=a*G^b sections
Curve algles
m Fan
m
In
No od od
ul
Vehicle speed V tado
o Cond Rad ul motore
engine
in
ke o
m
gr va
on
es lle
P=Pamb+0.5*Cpi**V^2 te
so Pl Pl
en en
u u
ızgara m m
radyatör
Inferior
condenser bypass

(example from table fig. 5.3.2). Nodo uscita

Exit
P=Pamb+0.5*Cpo**V^2
*V^2

Example of calculation for

monodimensional analysis

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 34

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air flow

1500
Fan
Fan
Fan ++ air
Fan air flow
flow
1000

Dp air flow = 870 Pa

500
Delta p [Pa]

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000

-500

-1000

-1500
Air flow [m3/h]

Head evaluation air side

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 35

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air flow

1800
Fan + air flow
1600
Losses
1400

1200

1000
delta p [Pa]

800

600

400

200

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
-200
air flow [m3/h]

m3
Air flow evaluation Ga  3930
h

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 36

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

General considerations on heat exchangers

The thermal power eliminated by the radiator amounts to:

Q K r ATw  Ta 
W
 Kr  
m2 K

A = radiator frontal surface

Ta = air temperature at radiator entrance
Tw = radiator entrance temperature (maximum coolant temperature)

Kr = global thermal exchange coefficient (evaluated experimentally, due to the

radiator’s complex form)

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 37

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

General considerations on heat exchangers

Kr depends on:

• radiator type (mechanical or braised);

• form and quantity of the tubes in which the coolant flows,
thickness and space between fins;
• coolant flow;
• air flow.

The material dependance of the radiator pack is small.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 38

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Global thermal exchange coefficient

8
Water flow
7 2118
3882
6 6000
8118
5
Kr [kW/m2K]

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Air flow [m3/h]

Global thermal exchange coefficient (table 4)

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 39

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Global thermal exchange coefficient

8
Water flow l
7 2118 Gw  8640
3882 h
6 6000
8118
5
Kr [kW/m2K]

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Air flow [m3/h]

kW
K r  5.18 2
mK
Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 40
 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air temperature at radiator entrance

Considering the condenser thermal exchange:

Q&cond Q&cond 10
Tain  Tamb   Tamb   30   37.9 C
ca  m&a ca  a  Ga 1.012 1.15 
3930
3600

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 41

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Radiator surface area

Considering the radiator thermal exchange equation:

Q&w 52.1
A   0.190 m2

K r Twin  Tain  5.18   90.8  37.9 

Knowing that L/H = 1.944 the following dimensions can be obtained:

L = 608 mm
H = 313 mm

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 42

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air temperature at radiator exit

Considering the thermal power transfered to the air as it

crosses the radiator:

Q&w Q&w 52.1

Ta out  Tain   Tain   37.9   78.9 C
ca  ma
& ca  a  Ga 1.012 1.15 
3930
3600

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 43

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Verification

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 44

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Working conditions

Qw  75% Qw dimensioning  39.10 kW

N  3250 rpm

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 45

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water flow

Pump working point

1200

1000

800
Delta p [mbar]

Circuit resistance
600
Pump head at 3250 rpm

400

200

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
flow [l/h]

l
Gw  6611
h
Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 46
 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air flow

In this case the head due to the vehicle movement is p =

111 Pa, while that of the fan remains unchanged.
2000
Fan + air flow
Losses
1500

1000
delta p [Pa]

Air flow evaluation 500

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000

-500

-1000
Air flow [m3/h]

m3
Ga  2252
h
Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 47
 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Global thermal exchange coefficient

8
Water flow
7 l
Gw  6611
2118
3882
6 6000 h
8118
5
Kr [kW/m2K]

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Air flow [m3/h]

kW
K r  3.31 2
mK
Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 48
 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air temperature at radiator entrance

assuming it is the same as in the previous case

Q&cond Q&cond
Tain  Tamb   Tamb  
ca  m&a ca   a  Ga
10
 30   43.7 C
2252
1.012 1.15 
3600

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 49

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Air temperature at radiator exit

Q&w Q&w
Ta out  Tain   Tain  
ca  m&a ca   a  Ga
39.1
 43.7   97.4 C
2252
1.012 1.15 
3600

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 50

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water temperature at radiator entrance

Q&w 39.1
Twin  Tain   43.7   105.8 C
Kr  A 3.31 0.190

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 51

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

Water temperature at radiator exit

Q&w Q&w
Twout  Twin   Twin  
cw  m&w cw   w  Gw
39.1
 105.8   99.9 C
6611
3.5 1020 
1000  3600

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 52

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

ATB index

ATB  Tamb  Tboil  Twin  30  132.5  105.8  56.7 C

The ATB index obtained is superior to the minimum 53.4°C

required and therefore the radiator dimensioning is correct.

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 53

 Unit A – Engine cooling system

ATB index required in different working conditions

according to FIAT standards:

ATB LIMITS - PLUG CALIBRATION = 1.4 bar

(Countries with temperate climate / Countries with hot climate)

Vehicles with mechanical gear – with air conditioned

I – 9% + II – 6% + II – 9% V – 140 km/h Minimum with
tow tow barrier
PETROL 48,4/58,4** 43,4/53,4 46,7/56,7 71.7 48,4/58,4
DIESEL 48,4/58,4 53,4/63,4 56,7/66,7 71.7 58,4/68,4

** Measurements to be made with air conditioned off

Combustion Engine Application to Vehicle 54