System for thermal management of a vehicle and method for vehicle cold start

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9228472-B2
Application number	US-201313922069-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 19, 2013
Priority date	Jun 19, 2013
Publication date	Jan 5, 2016
Grant date	Jan 5, 2016

Abstract

A method, comprising during a vehicle engine cold start, opening a first valve coupled between a first container containing an adsorbent and a second container containing an adsorbate, circulating a first fluid through a first conduit coupled to a first heat exchanger located within the first container and a second heat exchanger located outside the first container, and circulating a second fluid through a second conduit coupled to the second heat exchanger. In this way, heat may be generated at the adsorber during a cold start and subsequently transferred to the cooling jacket of the vehicle engine and/or other vehicle compartments, thereby decreasing the warm-up time for the engine.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
during a vehicle engine cold start:
opening a first valve coupled between a first container containing an adsorbent and a second container containing an adsorbate to flow the adsorbate from the second container to the first container for adsorption at the adsorbent;
exchanging heat between the adsorbent in the first container and a first fluid by circulating the first fluid in a coolant/adsorber heat exchange loop through a first heat exchanger located within the first container and a second heat exchanger located outside the first container, the first heat exchanger thermally coupled with the adsorbent; and
exchanging heat between the first fluid and a second fluid by circulating the second fluid through a coolant circuit including the second heat exchanger.

2. The method of claim 1 , where circulating the second fluid through the coolant circuit further includes circulating the second fluid through a cooling jacket of a vehicle engine.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
allowing the vehicle engine to reach a predetermined running temperature; and then
stopping circulation of the first fluid in the coolant/adsorber heat exchange loop.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
circulating a third fluid in a heat recovery loop through a third heat exchanger located within the first container and a fourth heat exchanger located outside the first container and thermally coupled to a waste heat source;
activating a fan coupled to the second container;
allowing the adsorbate in the second container to reach a predetermined threshold level;
closing the first valve;
stopping circulation of the third fluid; and
de-activating the fan coupled to the second container.

5. The method of claim 4 , where the waste heat source is an exhaust passage coupled to the vehicle engine.

6. The method of claim 2 , where circulating the second fluid through the coolant circuit further includes circulating the second fluid through a radiator and a third container, where the third container is a reservoir containing the second fluid.

7. The method of claim 6 , where circulating the second fluid through the coolant circuit further includes circulating the second fluid through a heating circuit of the coolant circuit, the heating circuit including a heater core used for warming a passenger cabin of the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1 , where the adsorbent is zeolite and the adsorbate is an aqueous solution.

9. A thermal management system for a vehicle, comprising:
an adsorption thermal storage device comprising a first container including an adsorbent coupled via a first valve to a second container including an adsorbate;
a coolant/adsorber heat exchange loop in which a first coolant circulates, the coolant/adsorber heat exchange loop including a first heat exchanger located within the first container and a second heat exchanger located outside the first container, the first heat exchanger thermally coupled with the adsorbent; and
a coolant circuit in which a second coolant circulates, the coolant circuit including the second heat exchanger and a first warming target.

10. The system of claim 9 , further comprising:
a heat recovery loop in which a third coolant circulates, the heat recovery loop including a third heat exchanger located within the first container and a fourth heat exchanger located outside of the first container, the fourth heat exchanger thermally coupled with a waste heat source.

11. The system of claim 10 , where the coolant circuit further includes a second warming target and a third container, wherein the third container is a reservoir containing the second coolant.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a heating circuit, the heating circuit including a second valve and a third warming target, wherein the heating circuit is included in the coolant circuit when the second valve is open.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:
a controller configured with instructions stored in memory for: in response to a request for heat for the first warming target, opening the first valve, circulating the first coolant through the coolant/adsorber heat exchange loop and circulating the second coolant through the coolant circuit.

14. The system of claim 13 , where the controller is further configured with instructions stored in memory for: in response to a request for heat for the third warming target, opening the second valve, circulating the second coolant through the heating circuit, and activating a first fan coupled to the third warming target.

15. The system of claim 13 , where the controller is further configured with instructions stored in memory for: in response to a level of adsorbate in the second container being below a first threshold, stopping circulation of the first coolant through the coolant/adsorber heat exchange loop, opening the first valve, circulating the third coolant through the heat recovery loop, activating a second fan coupled to the second container, allowing the level of adsorbate in the second container to reach a second threshold higher than the first threshold, closing the first valve and de-activating the second fan and stopping circulation of the third coolant through the heat recovery loop.

16. The system of claim 14 , where the first warming target is a cooling jacket of a vehicle engine, the second warming target is a radiator and the third warming target is a heater core used for warming a passenger cabin of the vehicle.

17. The system of claim 10 , where the waste heat source is an exhaust passage coupled to a vehicle engine, and the third coolant is a high temperature heat transfer fluid.

18. The system of claim 9 , where the first warming target is a heater core used for warming a passenger cabin of the vehicle.

19. A warm-up system for a vehicle engine, comprising:
an adsorption thermal storage device comprising an adsorber containing an adsorbent coupled via a valve to a fluid tank containing an adsorbate;
a coolant/adsorber heat exchange loop containing a first coolant, the coolant/adsorber heat exchange loop including a first heat exchanger located within the adsorber and a second heat exchanger located outside the adsorber;
a coolant circuit containing a second coolant, the coolant circuit including the second heat exchanger and further including a cooling jacket of the vehicle engine; and
a controller configured with instructions stored in memory for: in response to a cold start event, opening the first valve, circulating the first coolant through the coolant/adsorber heat exchange loop, and circulating the second coolant through the coolant circuit.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Greiner Christopher Mark
• Tsou Poyu
• Wang Kai

Classifications

• F02N19/10

  by heating of engine coolants · CPC title

• F01P2011/205

  using heat-accumulators · CPC title

• B60H1/00492

  comprising regenerative heating or cooling means, e.g. heat accumulators · CPC title

• F01N5/02 Primary

  the devices using heat · CPC title

• F28D20/003

  using thermochemical reactions · CPC title