Radiator Design

[mfadzil]

Can anyone suggest how to design or do a calculation to size a radiator for any engine? I'm having problems on radiator sizing for MTU 16V4000 engine with ambient temperature up to 50 Deg. Celsius.

 

[speco]

Mfadzil,

Normally the engine manufacturers have specific requirements for radiators, such as temperatures in and out, flow rate of coolant, etc. A 50/50 glycol/water mixture is most common for the coolant. Your ambient temperature is considerably higher than most locations in the world, but it can be done.

Typically the engine jacket water temperatures are in the range of 190 F (88 C) to 180 F (82 C) in and out. Be sure to include a significant safety factor in your design. Some engines will automatically shut down if the engine jacket water gets too hot.

Regards,

speco (

http://www.stoneprocess.com)

 

[Hoxton]

Are you designing an actual radiator, or specifying one to be purchased?

The radiator manufacturers I deal with (in the UK) have full details of the water cooling requirements of all the major engines (MTU, Cummins, CAT, Deutz, Perkins etc). I represent one of these, and get regular calls from radiator manufacturers, to check that their data is up to date.

Generally, the radiator manufacturer needs:

The maximum ambient temperature (air on)

Glycol % (for low temperature areas - perhaps not for some places, say parts of africa where temperature never falls below 5C or so) - but remember you still need to add an inhibitor to the water to prevent engine corrosion.

Noise level

Frequency (for electric driven fans)

Engine rating / speed.

Whether the engine has an engine driven fan - this determins the airflow available.

Charge air cooler - air / air or air / water

As speco says, a margin has to be added for design - diesel engine radiator kW duties are usually given gross by the engine manufacturer(i.e. with engine heat tolerance included), but not always.

A margin has to be added for radiator fouling, both air side AND water side. This is, in my experience, where you have to watch it, since this is where the unwary can be lead astray!

 

[mfadzil]

We are not designing the actual radiator for fabrication.
As our company design the diesel engine generator package, we might have advantages if we do a simple calculation to determine the radiator sizing to suit within the genset enclosure.
Can you guys give any tips on how to do the calculation and if possible to attached any related simple drawing on hows the radiator operated.