Surge Tank
A surge tank includes a reservoir wherein the reservoir defines a coolant receiving inlet for coupling to the engine. The reservoir further defines a reservoir outlet through which the flow of coolant is returned to the engine. The coolant receiving inlet receives a flow of coolant from the engine. The surge tank further includes a plurality of objects disposed within the coolant reservoir. The plurality of objects are operatively configured to float at an upper surface of the coolant in the reservoir and to dampen the momentum of the coolant flowing from the engine.
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The present disclosure relates generally to surge tanks for use in vehicles, including surge tanks that receive coolant, deaerates the coolant, and returns the deaerated coolant to the system.
In a known cooling system for an internal combustion engine, a cooling water reservoir tank is provided and is used not only for storing an overflow of cooling water but also for ensuring a recirculation of a part of the cooling water to the reservoir tank, to thereby separate and remove air and vapor from the cooling water in the reservoir tank, to thereby separate and remove air and vapor from the cooling water in the reservoir tank, whereby the cooling efficiency of the cooling system is increased.
In this type of cooling system, in general, an independent cooling water passageway connects the reservoir tank to an engine body and a radiator, and the reservoir tank is provided with a cap equipped with a relief valve which allows air or vapor held in an upper portion of the reservoir tank to be discharged to the atmosphere, when the pressure inside the reservoir tank exceeds a predetermined value, and thus prevents an excessive increase of the pressure in the cooling system. This operation also allows air to be quickly separated from the cooling water: this air is entrained in the cooling system when the cooling water is supplemented, and remains in the cooling system. The separated air is discharged by the relief valve in the reservoir tank, and thus, the cooling efficiency of the system is enhanced.
When the engine is stopped just after a high load operation, the circulation of the cooling water is stopped, and accordingly, the temperature of the cooling water becomes very high, which causes a large amount of the cooling water to be vaporized and this vapor collects in the upper portion of the cooling system (i.e. a hot soak).
Referring now to
One specific example of a vehicle is a truck, such as a heavy duty or medium duty truck (not shown) used in long hauling operations or a truck tractor used for such purposes. Land vehicles are particularly desirable applications in which surge tanks would be used. In
There are a number of reasons for de-aerating coolant. For example, poor de-aeration of coolant can result in cavitation of an engine water pump, pitting of engine liners, engine overheating, cab HVAC system failures, EGR cooler erosion, and other drawbacks. For example, modern truck engines have relatively high fluid flow rates to a surge tank, such as in excess of four gallons per minute. As a result, it becomes more difficult to de-aerate the coolant. In addition, high fluid flow rates into a surge tank can result in fracturing air bubbles into microbubbles (e.g., pin sized bubbles) which are even more difficult to remove from the coolant.
It is known to make surge tanks out of plastic for weight and cost saving purposes. However, because of the high temperatures often reached by coolant, plastic can tend to soften when used. As a result, plastic surge tanks are typically provided with reinforcing baffles 128 as shown in
A need exists for an improved surge tank which is operatively configured to reduce or minimize air bubbles from recirculating through the engine cooling system.
SUMMARYA surge tank is provided according to the embodiment(s) disclosed herein. The surge tank includes a reservoir wherein the reservoir defines a coolant receiving inlet for coupling to the engine. The reservoir also defines a reservoir outlet. The coolant receiving inlet receives a flow of coolant from the engine. The reservoir outlet is the outlet through which the flow of coolant is returned to the engine. The surge tank further includes a plurality of objects disposed within the coolant reservoir. The plurality of objects are operatively configured to float at an upper surface of the coolant in the reservoir and to dampen the momentum of the coolant flowing from the engine.
Features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description and drawings, in which like reference numerals correspond to similar, though perhaps not identical, components. For the sake of brevity, reference numerals or features having a previously described function may or may not be described in connection with other drawings in which they appear.
A surge tank 10 of the present disclosure provides improved dampening to an incoming flow of coolant 12. Referring now to
The surge tank 10 further includes a plurality of objects 18 disposed within the coolant reservoir 14. The plurality of objects 18 are operatively configured to float at an upper surface 20 of the coolant 22 in the reservoir 14 and to dampen the momentum of the coolant flowing from the engine. The plurality of objects 18 may cover a portion (not shown) of the entire upper surface 20 of the coolant 22 disposed within the reservoir 14 or it may cover the entire upper surface 20 of the coolant 22 disposed within the reservoir 14 as shown in
The plurality of objects 18 may come in a variety of shapes such as, but not limited to spheres, octagons, squares, rectangles, pyramids, and the like. The plurality of objects 18 are formed from polymeric materials. The plurality of objects 18 (which may be spheres, octagons, squares) may be hollow or solid. It is to be understood that it may be more cost effective and lighter weight to have hollow instead of solid objects 18.
Referring now to
Each of the objects 18 may be solid, or perforated or both solid and perforated. Referring to
Referring now to
As indicated, the plurality of objects 18 are disposed within the coolant reservoir 14 in an upper portion 34 of the surge tank 10 and are operatively configured to float at an upper surface 20 of the coolant 22 in the reservoir 14. The plurality of objects 18 in conjunction with the baffle 32 are operatively configured to dampen the momentum of the flow of coolant 12 from the engine. Accordingly, air in the form of air bubbles is minimized within the coolant due to the dampened momentum in the flow of coolant 12 from the engine and the dispersing of the air bubbles that are in the coolant.
Similar to the first embodiment, it is to be understood that the plurality of objects 18 may be either hollow or solid or semi-sold (perforated) as described above. The plurality of objects 18 may also be formed from a polymeric material or the like.
Each object 18 may have a diameter of about 0.5 inches. However, it is to be understood that the diameter may vary depending on the configuration of the surge tank 10. It is also to be understood that the plurality of objects 18 cover at least a substantial amount of the upper surface 20 of the coolant 22 in the reservoir 14. The entire upper surface 20 of the coolant 22 in the reservoir 14 may be covered by the plurality of objects 18 or a substantial portion of the coolant 22 in the reservoir 14 may be covered.
Referring now to
Claims
1. A surge tank comprising:
- a reservoir including a coolant receiving inlet for coupling to the engine to receive a flow of coolant from the engine and a reservoir outlet through which the flow of coolant is returned to the engine; and
- a plurality of objects disposed within the coolant reservoir, the plurality of objects operatively configured to float at an upper surface of the coolant in the reservoir and to dampen the momentum of the coolant flowing from the engine.
2. The surge tank, as defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of objects are balls.
3. The surge tank, as defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of objects are formed from a polymeric material.
4. The surge tank, as defined in claim 2, wherein the balls are hollow.
5. The surge tank, as defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of objects are solid.
6. A surge tank comprising:
- a reservoir including a coolant receiving inlet for coupling to the engine to receive a flow of coolant from the engine and a reservoir outlet through which the flow of coolant is returned to the engine;
- a baffle; and
- a plurality of objects disposed within the coolant reservoir, the plurality of objects operatively configured to float at an upper surface of the coolant in the reservoir and to dampen the momentum of the coolant flowing from the engine.
7. The surge tank, as defined in claim 6, wherein the plurality of objects are hollow.
8. The surge tank, as defined in claim 6, wherein the plurality of objects are formed from a polymeric material.
9. The surge tank, as defined in claim 7, wherein the plurality of objects have a diameter of about 0.5 inches.
10. The surge tank, as defined in claim 6, wherein the plurality of objects form multiple layers near the upper surface of the coolant in the reservoir.
11. The surge tank, as defined in claim 6 wherein the baffle spans the internal width of the reservoir.
12. The surge tank, as defined in claim 6, wherein the baffle is a grate.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 8, 2010
Publication Date: Dec 27, 2012
Applicant: International Truck Intellectual Property Company, LLC (Lisle, IL)
Inventor: Taiung Juan (Ft. Wayne, IN)
Application Number: 13/583,075