Active Thermal Management with a Dual Mode Coolant Pump

A GT-suite commercial code was used to develop a fully integrated model of a light duty commercial vehicle with a V6 diesel engine, to study the use of a BorgWarner dual mode coolant pump (DMCP) in active thermal management of the vehicle. An Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule (UDDS) was used to validate the simulation results with the experimental data. The conventional mechanical pump from the validated model was then replaced with the dual mode coolant pump. The control algorithm for the pump was based on controlling the coolant temperature with pump speed. Maximum electrical speed of the pump and the efficiency of the pump were used to determine whether the pump should run in mechanical or electrical mode. The model with the dual mode coolant pump was simulated for the UDDS cycle to demonstrate the effectiveness of control strategy. Benefits of using the dual mode coolant pump in reducing auxiliary power, reducing friction losses and increasing fuel economy of the vehicle was investigated in this study. Lastly, a hot start UDDS cycle was used to demonstrate changes in the operating mode of the pump. The results of this study confirm the capability of the DMCP in effective thermal management of the system with an increased fuel economy benefit of more than 2%.