Thermal Management for the 21st Century

"Today's coolant system consists mainly of mechanically driven pumps, fans, thermostats, and a copper fined radiator with ethylene glycol coolant. These technologies have remained virtually unchanged for over 75 years, yet a considerable amount of thehorsepower goes into this antiquated and inefficient thermal system. Controlling components such as thermostats, water pumps and fans, has demonstrated efficiency and emission improvements. Also, advances in coolant and heat exchanger technology can allowfor improved heat transfer. However, these technologies have yet to be integrated together and made commercially available. Properly implemented, fuel savings improvements can be achieved. Along with this could be improvements in packaging and flexibility,which could decrease inventories, improve serviceability and allow for task specific control. Various technologies will be evaluated for use in this system including Engineered Machined Product's advanced controlled pumps and valves, along with the latestin heat exchangers, fans and coolant. The goal of this project is to define, develop and demonstrate such an advanced thermal management system for use on both military and commercial vehicles, offering a unique approach to thermal management. Properlyimplemented, this advanced thermal management system will offer fuel savings of up to 10%. Along with this could be improvements in packaging and flexibility, which could decrease inventor