Concurrent Control of Multiple Calorimetry Facilities Using a Single-Tasking Computer

Thermal testing of vehicle heat exchangers used to be (and in some cases still is) a matter of manually adjusting fluid conditions to the device under test, waiting for stability and writing to a clip board measured physical values. Heat rejection figures were then calculated based on the temperature change of one fluid and results were often plotted on squared paper as they were derived. The validity of each test point was assessed by the Test Engineer on the basis of his/her experience, expectation and fit on the curve, bad points being repeated at once.

The contemporary need to value-engineer products together with the advent of low cost computing power has influenced these practices. The scramble to disseminate test results as part of the information technology bandwagon has led to computerised solutions that have majored on the wrong aspects of the task, absorbed unnecessarily high investment capital, compounded the black art of hitech computing with the blacker art of thermal testing and often put the Test Engineer one step further away from his/her need for immediate information. This paper offers an alternative solution.