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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number EP/M005755/1
Title Evaporative Cooling of Internal Combustion Engines
Status Completed
Energy Categories Energy Efficiency(Transport) 100%;
Research Types Basic and strategic applied research 100%
Science and Technology Fields ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 100%
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator Dr J Dunne
No email address given
Engineering and Design
University of Sussex
Award Type Standard
Funding Source EPSRC
Start Date 23 February 2015
End Date 22 December 2018
Duration 46 months
Total Grant Value £671,814
Industrial Sectors Transport Systems and Vehicles
Region South East
Programme NC : Engineering
 
Investigators Principal Investigator Dr J Dunne , Engineering and Design, University of Sussex (99.998%)
  Other Investigator Dr Z (Zhiyin ) Yang , Engineering and Design, University of Sussex (0.001%)
Dr A (Argyrios ) Zolotas , Sch of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex (0.001%)
  Industrial Collaborator Project Contact , Ford Motor Company (0.000%)
Project Contact , DENSO Corporation, Japan (0.000%)
Project Contact , Ricardo AEA Limited (0.000%)
Web Site
Objectives
Abstract The proposed work will examine an evaporative cooling system for use on modern Internal Combustion (IC) engines. The project aims to assess the impact of surface vibration and dynamics on the heat transfer capabilities and stability of controlled evaporative cooling for typical engine coolant jackets. The approach will include use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to predict 2-Phase flow for simplified and representative coolant jacket geometries. This CFD work will assist in getting an understanding of the physics of evaporative cooling, that will in turn assist in the development of robust control strategies to handle what is considered to be a very effective but potentially unstable heat transfer mechanism. A pilot control system will be built allowing the effectiveness of robust control in the presence of vibration and agitation to be experimentally assessed and verified. This 3-year project will be of direct benefit to the academic community since it should generate new fundamental knowledge of evaporative cooling, of particular interest to IC engine research, as existing engine cooling systems are nearing their thermal limits because they exploit forced-convection-based heat transfer involving a water/glycol mixture passing through a coolant jacket. This limit in turn, restricts the performance of both (CI) compression ignition (diesel) engines, and spark ignition (SI) gasoline engines, particularly with engine downsizing, where the intended application could be for conventional or parallel hybrid vehicles, or as compact, high power-weight-ratio range extender engines for Extended Range Electric Vehicles. Evaporative cooling is of considerable interest to automotive vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, because many see the great potential of evaporative cooling over conventional convective systems, to achieve improved IC engine fuel economy and reduced CO2 emissions
Publications (none)
Final Report (none)
Added to Database 15/07/15