Modern Cooling System Theory

Summary
The demands on engine cooling systems have risen dramatically over the past two decades. Factors that have driven this rising demand are an increase in the number of fluids that need cooling, a push for higher power output, and the implementation of stricter emissions regulations. As both initial capital costs and operating costs continue to increase for cooling systems, so has the awareness of the importance of properly optimizing these systems. Cooling system designers must ensure that engines do not overheat during peak ambient conditions when running at full power, while considering the cost and parasitic power lost to the cooling system. Flexxaire produces variable pitch fan systems that provide total airflow control, allowing cooling system designers to meet the cooling requirements of peak ambient conditions in addition to minimizing the parasitic losses inherent to standard cooling fans.

Heat Transfer Fundamentals

The science of heat transfer provides the basis for cooling system design. The basic formula of heat transfer is written as:

q = m T C p
Where: q = heat transferred m = mass T = difference in temperature C p = specific heat A fundamental implication of the above formula is that the amount of heat that can be transferred from one thing to another is directly proportional to the difference in temperature between the two things ( T ). For radiators, as the difference between ambient air and engine coolant temperatures increases, the volume of air required to cool the fluid decreases. This law has a dramatic effect on airflow requirements as the temperature of the air approaches the temperature of the fluids being cooled by the radiator. The heat transfer formula from above can be re-written to apply directly to a radiator as:

cfmr =
Where:

Q T
Required Airflow (cfm)
0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

cfmr = the required airflow generated by the cooling fan Q = the required amount of heat rejected into the air to
maintain proper engine temperature

T = Tcoolant Tambient
Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between A and T . As the ambient temperature approaches the coolant temperature, T decreases and airflow requirements increase.

Delta T (F)

Figure 1: Relationship between

cfmr and T

Mechanics of Airflow
Heat transfer considerations help to determine what the airflow requirements are. Now, the impact that air velocity and air volume have on power consumption will be discussed. The energy required to move something varies with the square of the speed with which it moves. The formula that describes this relationship can be written as:

E=
Where: E = energy m = mass v = velocity

1 m v2 2

The implications of this relationship on airflow through a radiator are straightforward. If it is necessary to move more air through a radiator, it is necessary to increase the speed of the air since the effective area of the radiator remains static.

Power Requirements of Airflow

The empirical relationship between airflow and the power required to generate that airflow is displayed by a well-known Fan Law, written below as:

cfm2 hp 2 = hp1 cfm 1

Where:

% of Max Fan Power Draw

hp1 = power draw of the existing airflow hp 2 = power draw of the desired airflow cfm1 = the existing airflow cfm2 = the desired airflow
The implications of the above formula are far-reaching. The power draw related to an increase in airflow is directly proportional to the cube of the ratio of airflow increase. Therefore, in order to increase the airflow through a radiator by 2 times, an increase in power of 8 times will be required.

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

Figure 2 illustrates the relationship between the power draw of a cooling fan and the airflow generated by the fan.

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

% of Max Airflow
Figure 2: Relationship between Power and Airflow

Cooling Package Design Strategies

Cooling package design often starts with the selection of a Limiting Ambient Temperature (LAT). An LAT is the maximum ambient temperature that the cooling package can operate in and still provide the heat rejection that the application requires. From the selection of an appropriate LAT, it is possible to determine the design T and corresponding airflow requirement. As higher LATs are selected, the design T decreases and airflow requirements increase. The following considerations will assist in the design of optimized cooling packages: Select an appropriate LAT If the chosen LAT is too low, machines may overheat during peak ambient temperature conditions which is unacceptable to customers. However, to over design by selecting an excessively high LAT can cause significant power, fuel and performance penalties. Therefore it is important to select the correct LAT and then test the cooling package for both adequacy and over-design.

Minimize all cooling loads Identify and remove all unnecessary parasitic power losses that increase the cooling load. Such parasitic power losses generally come from inefficiencies. See below for an example of this. o A hydraulic fan drive system will generally have efficiencies in the 75-85% range. This means that 1525% of the input energy is transferred into heat in the hydraulic oil. This heat must be removed from the cooling system by the fan itself. Hydraulically driven fan systems often account for 5-7% of the overall cooling load during peak conditions. This results in peak fan horsepower requirements increasing by 1622% in order to provide the extra cooling required by the fan system, plus the initial 15-25% inefficiency for a total of 31-47% more peak fan horsepower than required.

Aside: Belt drive systems are typically 93-98% efficient and add no cooling load. Use Variable Airflow systems This is the best strategy. Variable airflow systems allow cooling packages to have high LATs without the associated power penalties. The two most common methods of achieving variable airflow are variable speed and variable pitch fan systems.

Impact of Fan Diameter

By increasing the diameter of the cooling fan, the same amount of airflow can be generated at a lower velocity. Since area varies with the square of diameter, velocity varies with the square of diameter, and as earlier stated, energy varies with the square of velocity. Therefore, it follows that the fan power varies inversely with the diameter to the fourth power. This relationship is expressed as:

hp 2 = hp1 1 2
Where:

hp1 = power draw of the existing fan hp 2 = power draw of the desired fan 1 = the diameter of the existing fan 2 = the diameter of the desired fan
This means a 10% larger fan/radiator will use 32% less horsepower to move the same volume of air. It is important to use the largest radiator and fan arrangement that design constraints will allow.

Using a Variable Pitch Fan to Optimize a Cooling System

The following example is based on real test data and takes into account system inefficiencies. Figure 3 shows the relationship between percent of max airflow as a function of ambient temperature for an air-to-air heat exchanger. This design data was supplied by a radiator manufacturer. The cooling package used for this example had an LAT of 110F (43C). Figure 4 provides operating info for a 34 Flexxaire fan running at 1850 rpm and various pitches. There are three sets of curves in Figure 2: 1) Airflow as a function of static pressure for various fan blade pitches. 2) Horsepower as a function of static pressure for the same fan blade pitches. 3) A system restriction curve. A fan curve describes the relationship between airflow through a radiator and static pressure; as the static pressure increases, the airflow decreases. Fan power curves show the relationship between airflow and power draw for various fan blade pitches. A system curve describes the amount of air that will flow through a radiator; as more air is pushed through the radiator, more pressure is required. Overlaying a system curve with a fan curve allows for the determination of Operating Points. Such Operating Points are indications of the airflow and pressure that a specific fan and radiator arrangement will provide. By combining Figures 3 and 4, a graph that displays the fan power requirements as a function of ambient temperature can be created. This is shown in Figure 5.
% of Max Airflow (sCFM)
120% 100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0% 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Ambient Temp (F)

Figure 3: % Max Airflow vs. Ambient temp

10 9 8
Static Pressure (inH20)

60
Power (HP)

40 20 0 -20 -40 -60 -80

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000

Airflow (sCFM)

-100 -120 40000

10 20 30 40 Restriction 10 O.P. 20 O.P. 30 O.P. 40 O.P.

Figure 4: Flexxaire fan operating info

1.2

Implications of Figure 5
The power draw requirements of a fan reduce quickly as ambient temperature drops. With an ambient temperature just 30F (17C) below the peak design temperature, the power draw has dropped more than 50%. This means that even in relatively warm weather (80F, 27C) a variable pitch fan can save over 50% of the parasitic fan power load.

% of Max Fan Power

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 50

Ambient Temperature (F) Figure 5: % of Max Fan power vs. Ambient temp

60

70

80

90

100

110

120