International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 11 | Nov -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 6.171 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 825
Validation of Design Parameters of Radiator using Computational tool
K. Arasu
1
, T. Ramesh
2
1
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India
2
PG Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India
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ABSTRACT - Today’s automobiles are getting equipped with
high powered engines. The process of equipping such
automobiles with hiss necessitated the need for improving the
cooling efficiency of its radiators. The present work aims on
studying the thermal behaviour of automobile radiators. Both
LMTD and NTU methods are widely used for design and
performance analysis. In recent years, software is used as a
validating tool to generate results. This paper explains these
methods along with software results. This paper also includes
the case studies on two known examples from a text book. The
validated results and comparisons are presented. This work
provides a clear way for the easier verification of the thermal
performance of radiators. The designers involving radiators
could use this research as a base for improving their
performance. The software used for the performance
evaluation is HXcombine for analysing heat exchangers. The
results obtained serve as good database for the future
investigations.
Keywords: Automobile Radiator, Cooling Efficiency, Case
study, LMTD, NTU, Software
1. INTRODUCTION
The Radiator is a kind of heat exchanger which is used for
cooling IC engines, especially in automobiles. The radiator
system works by sending liquid coolant through passages in
the engine block and heads, from where the coolant picks up
heat from the engine block and heads.
Fig - 1: Typical car radiator [1]
The heated fluid is then carried to the radiator through the
rubber hose. Improving the cooling efficiency (only above
the optimum temperature) of the radiator improves the
performance of the engine. Most of the researches in this
field are concentrating on improving the heat transfer rate
by means of altering the properties of the coolant by adding
some nanoparticles. A typical radiator used in automobiles is
shown in figure 1. This paper discusses the comparative
analysis of theoretical and software methods of designing
radiators.
2. EXPERIMENTAL SCHEME
The outlet of the radiator is connected to the oil storage tank.
The oil storage tank is connected to the heater. This in turn is
connected to the inlet of the radiator. For the flow purpose
the centrifugal pump is used and for connection purpose the
rubber hoses are used. The research work involves the
analysis of cooling performance of radiator by introducing
different nanoparticles and also by altering their usual
design. The proposed approach follows the following layout
Fig - 2: CAD Drawn Experimental Layout
The coolant enters the radiator in hot condition. The radiator
distributes the hot coolant into its branched tubes where the
coolant transfers its heat to the surroundings through the
fins. The coolant leaves the radiator at a temperature just
above the optimum temperature. This coolant is stored in
the oil storage tank. From the storage tank the oil is taken
through the engineǯs coolant jackets ȋhere the engine is
replaced by heater coils). As a result the coolant carries away
the excess heat from the engine. This coolant in hot
condition is taken to the radiator and the cycle continues.