VEHICLE COOLING SYSTEM

RADIATOR EXPERIMENT

Prepared for
Dr. Amir Fartaj

by

Faisal SIDDIQUI
101963673
Candidate for Mechanical Engineering
(Automotive Option), 3rd year
 TABLE OF CONTENT

VEHICLE COOLING SYSTEM .............................................................................2

Introduction .......................................................................................................2
Experiment Objective ........................................................................................3
Experiment Setup and Apparatus......................................................................3
Nomenclatures ..................................................................................................5
Sequence of Operation and Measurements......................................................5
Results ..............................................................................................................6
Calculation and Discussion ...............................................................................6
Conclusion ......................................................................................................11
 VEHICLE COOLING SYSTEM
Introduction

Radiators and convectors are essentially heat exchangers that that cools the
liquid in the cooling system by allowing it to circulate through a series of water
channels, which are exposed to air ducts. Radiators are needed to cool engines
since the engines need to operate at a very high and dangerous temperature to
accomplish its power stroke starting at temperature of combustion in order to
achieve high efficiency.

Two common types of cooling system used in an automobile are: "Direct Air
Cooling" and "Liquid Cooling System". Liquid Cooling System is found in the
majority of these automobiles.

Any water cooling system is consisted of: Cooling Jacket, Water Pump, Cooling
Fan, Radiator Hoses and Radiator. A Radiator is the most important part of the
water cooling system and is the device we will be investigating in this experiment.

The main function of the Radiator is to cool the liquid in the cooling system by
allowing it to circulate through a series of water channels, which are exposed to
air ducts and hence reject the engine heat by the coolant (water). This is
achieved mainly through forced convection rather than just radiation.

The "Water Jackets" allow coolant to circulate around the very hot areas,
including the exhaust valve seats, as well as the relatively cooler areas of the
lower cylinders. The coolant absorbs heat (approximately 30% of the heat
released by combustion) from the hot areas and transfers this heat to the colder
areas in the engine or upward to the header tank of the radiator.

The heated water then is forced down in fine streams through the radiator matrix
and cooled by flow of cooling air which sucked in by cooling fans. The fan
ensures adequate airflow through the radiator while the vehicle is stopped or
moving at low speed. Five or six bladed fans are usually required on air-
conditioned cars, whereas a four bladed fan is standard on non air-conditioned
cars.

For safety purposes the radiator pressure cap is designed according to a certain
criteria, it’s provided with a pressure-relief valve. The pressure valve in the
radiator cap opens when the cooling system pressure reaches a predetermined
value. This allows some of the coolant to flow into the expansion tank. When the
coolant cools and contracts, lowering the system pressure below that of
operating pressure, the vacuum valve opens. The coolant is then pushed from
the reservoir tank back into the radiator.

2
Experiment Objective

Hydraulic analysis: such as pressure drop across radiator and radiator

relief pressure valve test.

Thermal analysis: such as heat balance and calculation the effectiveness
of the radiator.

Experiment Setup and Apparatus

Experiment Setup

Rear View

3
Frontal View

Control Panel

4
Nomenclatures

CF1 and CF2: Radiator Cooling Fan.

PG1 and PG2: Pressure gauges at inlet and outlet of radiator.
V1, V2, V3 and V4: Control ball valves.
WP: water Pump.
HE: Heater element – 1500 KW.
TC0 and TC1: Thermocouples type K – To measure air upstream
temperature.
TC2 and TC3: Thermocouples type K – To measure air downstream
temperature/Fan #1.
TC4 and TC5: Thermocouples type K – To measure air downstream
temperature/Fan #2
TC6 and TC7: Thermocouples type K–To measure outlet and inlet
temperature of radiator.
PS: DC Power supply using to operate the cooling fans.
RC: Radiator cap/ Pressure relief valve.

Sequence of Operation and Measurements

Use the raw data sheet to record your readings.

Measure the mass flow rate of the water in the radiator using bucket and
stop watch.

Close valves V1 and V4, Open valves V2 and V3.

Operate the water pump and record the readings of PG1 and PG2.

Gradually close V2 during operation and record the pressure (PG1), once
the pressure relief valve actuates, record this value of pressure (PRv).

Set the thermostat on the heater element to 50 C°

Switch on the heater element to start warming the water.

When the water in the tank reaches to 50 C°, opera te the circulating pump
after close valve V2 and open the other valves.

Using data acquisition software and acquire the thermocouples readings
(TC0-TC7) after system reaches to steady state. The readings will be
taken three times :

 Case (1): Without operating any cooling fans (natural convection).

 Case (2): Operating on one cooling fan.
 Case (3): Operating on both cooling fans.

Using hot wire anemometry, record the average downstream air velocity.

5
Results

Table 1:
TC0 TC1 TC2 TC3 TC4 TC5 TC6 TC7 Vavg PG1 PG2 PRv m kg t sec
Mass flow rate (H2O) 14 18.92
Hydro. Analysis This value 17
could not
be
calculated
due to
instability
and scale of
pressure
gages.
Thermal Analysis (1) 21.3 21 24.9 25.4 24.3 23.7 36.1 36.6 -
Thermal Analysis (2) 21.6 21.3 30.2 29.3 22.8 23.1 34.9 36.9 -
Thermal Analysis (3) 22.5 21.6 29.3 27.8 27.8 27.8 31.9 34.9 -

Calculation and Discussion

Calculate the pressure drop across radiator

Ans: Due to the lack of stability of the gage needle and the scale on the
pressure gauge being too large compared to the pressure to be
measured, the pressure at the outlet can't be measured properly.
So the pressure drop across the radiator ∆P = Pout − Pin = PG2 − PG1
can't be calculated.

Compare the measured PR with the actual one (read this value on
v
the radiator cap)

Ans: The measured PR is 17psi, whereas the actual value of the

v
Radiator Cap is 16psi.

Calculate the heat dissipation from the water in both case (2) and (3)
using the formula:

Where:
Q = The amount of heat dissipated to the water (KW)
m = water mass flow rate (kg/sec)
C= Specific heat of the water = 4.2 KJ/ KG.K
∆T = temperature difference of water across radiator

Ans: Please see the calculation on the next page:

6
 In case 2 (one fan is turned on):
• 14kg
mw = = 0.74kg / s
18.92sec
• •
Q w 2 = mw c p , w ∆T
•
= mw c p , w (Tout − Tin )
•
= mw c p , w (T7 − T6 )
= 0.74 ( 4.2 )( 36.9 − 34.9 )
= 6.216kW

In case 3 (both fans are turned on):

• 14kg
mw = = 0.74kg / s
18.92sec
• •
Q w3 = mw c p , w ∆T
•
= mw c p , w (Tout − Tin )
•
= mw c p , w (T7 − T6 )
= 0.74 ( 4.2 )( 34.9 − 31.9 )
= 9.324kW

Calculate the amount of heat captured by the air in both case (2) and
(3) using the same above formula.

The ∆T can be calculated by taking the difference of the

air
average of the downstream and upstream temperatures.
The mass flow rate air can be calculated as follow:

Where:
3
ρ= air density in kg/m corresponded to the average air
downstream temperature (from tables)
V = average downstream air velocity m/s
ave
2.
A= effective cross section area in m

Ans: Please see the calculation on the next page:

7
In case 2 (one fan is turned on):

Tair avg in 2 = TC1 = 21.6
C

TC2 + TC3 30.2 + 29.3
Tair avg out 2 = = = 29.75
C
2 2
Tair avg in 2 + Tair avg out 2 21.6 + 29.75
Tair avg = = = 25.675
C
2 2
Pressure is Assumed to be atmospheric = 101.325 kPa
and with Tair avg = 25.675
C
From EES: ρ air ,2 = 1.181kg / m3 and c p ,a = 1.005kJ / kg .K
• •
ma = ρVA = ρ ∀ = 1.181( 0.6 ) = 0.7086kg / s
• •
Q air 2 = ma c p , a (Tout − Tin )
= 0.7086 (1.005 )( 29.75 − 21.60 )
= 5.80kW

In case 3 (both fans are turned on):

TC0 + TC1 22.5 + 21.6

Tair avg in 3 = = = 22.05
C
2 2
TC + TC3 + TC4 + TC5 29.3 + 27.8 + 27.8 + 27.8
Tair avg out 3 = 2 = = 28.175
C
2 4
Tair avg in 3 + Tair avg out 3 22.05 + 28.175
Tair avg = = = 25.1125
C
2 2
Pressure is Assumed to be atmospheric = 101.325 kPa
and with Tair avg = 25.1125
C
From EES: ρ air ,3 = 1.184kg / m3 and c p ,a = 1.005kJ / kg .K
• •
ma = ρVA = ρ ∀ = 1.184 (1.2 ) = 1.4208kg / s
• •
Q air 3 = ma c p ,a ( Tout − Tin )
= 1.4208 (1.005 )( 28.175 − 22.05 )
= 8.7459kW

8

Compare between the heat release from the water for the case (1), (2)
and (3) and discuss the results.

Ans: In case 1 (both fans are turned off):

• 14kg
mw = = 0.74kg / s
18.92sec
• •
Q w3 = mw c p , w ∆T
•
= mw c p , w (Tout − Tin )
•
= mw c p , w (T7 − T6 )
= 0.74 ( 4.2 )( 36.6 − 36.1)
= 1.554kW

Table 2:
Case (1) (2) (3)
•
Qw (heat release 1.55 kW 6.22 kW 9.32 kW
from water)

Table 2 shows the heat release from the water for the three cases.
Case 2 and 3, shows more heat transfer from water because part of
the heat is released from the blowing air by the fans. In case 1
•
where Qw is the minimum because of natural radiation. This shows
that forced convection enables the Radiator to release more heat
and therefore enabling the engine to achieve higher efficiency.

Compare between the heat release from the water and heat captured
by the air for case (1) and (2), and discuss the results

Ans: In case 1 (both fans are turned off):

• •
ma = ρVA = ρ ∀ = 1.184 ( 0 ) = 0kg / s due to natural convection
• •
Q air1 = ma c p ,a (Tout − Tin )
= 0 (1.005 )(Tout − Tin )
= 0kW

It can be seen that the natural convection does not have much
effect on the temperature of water and air at the inlet and outlet,
which doesn’t exchange heat from the radiator with the
environment.
9
 Table 3:
Case 2 (Water) (Air)
•
Q 6.22 kW 5.80 kW
(heat released/captured)

• •
From Table 3, it can be seen that Qw 2 ≠ Qa 2 . The difference between
the two can be explained in terms of the sources of experimental
errors such as measuring the heat gained by air, the heat released
by water, measuring the cross section area of the radiator ducts,
measuring the atmospheric temperature and pressure etc. These
will be discussed in details in the discussion part.

Calculate the effectiveness of the radiator in both case (2) and (3),
using the following expression :
•
mw cw (Tw,i − Tw,o )
ε= •
Cmin (Tw,i − Ta ,i )

Where C can be calculated as follow:

min
1- Calculate the value of mw·cw
2- Calculate the value of ma·ca
3- Take the smaller value, this is a C
min

Ans: In case 2 (one fan is turned on):

• •
Cw = mw cw = 0.74 ( 4.2 ) = 3.018kJ / kg .K .s
• •
Ca = ma ca = 0.7086 (1.005 ) = 0.712143kJ / kg .K .s
• •
∴ Cmin = Ca
•
mw cw (Tw,i − Tw,o ) 3.108 ( 36.9 − 34.9 )
∴ε 2 = = = 0.3127 or 31.3%
•
Ca (Tout − Tin ) 0.712143 ( 36.9 − 21.45 )

10
 In case 3 (both fans are turned on):

• •
Cw = mw cw = 0.74 ( 4.2 ) = 3.018kJ / kg .K .s
• •
Ca = ma ca = 1.4208 (1.005 ) = 1.427904kJ / kg .K .s
• •
∴ Cmin = Ca
•
mw cw (Tw,i − Tw,o ) 3.108 ( 34.9 − 31.9 )
∴ε 3 = = = 0.625 or 62.5%
•
Ca (Tout − Tin ) 1.427904 ( 34.9 − 22.05 )

Conclusion

The objective of this experiment was to conduct Hydraulic analysis, such as

pressure drop across radiator and radiator relief pressure valve test, and Thermal
analysis, such as heat balance and calculation the effectiveness of the radiator.

By conducting this experiment we have successfully achieved most of our

experiment objectives. However there are discrepancies in the experimental
values that can be explained in terms of the experimental errors.

For example the objective of finding pressure drop across radiator was not met
due to the lack of stability of the gage needle and the scale on the pressure
gauge being too large compared to the pressure to be measured, the pressure at
the outlet can't be measured properly. So the pressure drop across the radiator
can't be calculated.

Also we found that the most accurate result is measure from the water. The
experimental value for the Radiator Relief Pressure Valve Test was found to be
17psi which is very close to the actual value read from the cap (16psi).

When the thermal analysis of water and air was compared it was seen that the
heat released by water is not the same as the heat gained by the air for the three
cases. This can be explained in terms of the sources of errors such as error in
measuring the heat gained by air, measuring the heat released by water,
measuring the cross section area of the radiator ducts (which can provide
inaccurate volume and mass flow rates), measuring the atmospheric temperature
and pressure etc (which can lead to inaccurate calculation of fluid properties
such as density and specific heat.

When the effectiveness of the radiator was calculated for case (2) and case (3) it
was found that running two fans can increase the effectiveness of the radiator.
For this experiment it was found to be doubling in the effectiveness.

11