FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
[39 OF 1970]
&
THE PATENTS 5 RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See section 10; Rule 13]
10
TITLE: METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENGINE THERMAL
MANAGEMENT
15
Name and Address of the Applicant:
TATA MOTORS LIMITED, Bombay House, 24 Homi Mody Street, Hutatma
Chowk, Mumbai-400 001, Maharashtra, India
20 Nationality: Indian
Nationality: qian
25 The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in
which it is to be performed.
2
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates, in general, to vehicles and more particularly,
the present disclosure relates to a method and system for engine thermal
management in vehicles.
5 BACKGROUND
[0002] The engine is the source of power for all vehicles that enables them propel.
Typically, the engine generates energy by burning fuel and as such, portions of
this energy in the form of heat inevitably end up being harnessed by the engine and
its parts while the rest is emitted through the exhaust system. In the process of
10 combustion, engines get quite hot and engine is highly likely to wear down.
[0003] Conventionally, coolants transfer and optimize the heat in the engine and
deploy antifreeze protection in order for the vehicle’s engine to keep running in
optimal condition. More specifically, radiators in the engine cools down the coolant
with help of air flowing on it. As such, for engines which generate high heat energy,
15 it is necessary to achieve required blow of air over the radiator. The required blow
of air can achieved by a thermal fan mounted on engine pulley mostly at front side
of the engine. Generally, an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the vehicle
determines a thermal fan demand based on different parameters and accordingly,
controls a speed of an electrically operated thermal fan at predefined speed.
20 However, as rate of change of temperature is low, the rate of change in the thermal
fan demand is also low with such a temperature base strategy. In an example, while
driving up a hilly terrain, engine may be experiencing a high load condition and the
thermal fan be engaged to operate at a maximum speed. However, when the vehicle
moves from the hilly terrain to a plain terrain, the engine may experience low load
25 conditions. In such conditions, the thermal fan rotates with extra speed
unnecessarily even after moving to the plain terrain as the rate of change of
temperature is slow. In general, as the ECU determines the thermal fan demand
based on temperature and engine speed, the thermal fan may continue to operate at
3
high speeds thereby resulting in unnecessary engagement of thermal fan which
affects the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. Moreover, linear increment or decrement
of thermal fan was not possible in case of two-three stage thermal fans. As
heat management of the engine has a great influence on fuel consumption, there
exists a need for improved control techniques to control operation 5 of the thermal
fan.
[0004] The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is
only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention
and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this
10 information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.
SUMMARY
[0005] In an embodiment, a method for engine thermal management is disclosed.
The method includes receiving, by a processor, a plurality of engine parameters
from a vehicle engine. The plurality of engine parameters are an engine speed, a
15 pedal demand, and one or more engine thermal parameters of the vehicle engine.
The method includes determining, by the processor, an operating speed of a thermal
fan mounted on the vehicle engine based on the plurality of engine parameters. The
method includes operating, by the processor, the thermal fan based on the operating
speed to manage the thermal conditions of the vehicle engine.
20 [0006] In another embodiment, a system for engine thermal management is
disclosed. The system includes a memory configured to store instructions and a
processor configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory and thereby
cause the processor to receive a plurality of engine parameters from a vehicle
engine. The plurality of engine parameters are an engine speed, a pedal demand,
25 and one or more engine thermal parameters of the vehicle engine. The processor is
configured to determine an operating speed of a thermal fan mounted on the vehicle
engine based on the plurality of engine parameters. The processor is configured to
4
operate the thermal fan based on the operating speed to manage the thermal
conditions of the vehicle engine.
[0007] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any
way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features
described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will 5 become apparent
by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[0008] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part
of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the
10 description, explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of
a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears.
The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and
components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with
embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example
15 only, and regarding the accompanying figures, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1A illustrates an example representation of an environment for engine
thermal management, in which at least some example embodiments of the
disclosure can be implemented;
[0010] FIG. 1B illustrates a graphical representation 150 depicting change in
20 operating speed of a thermal fan based on thermal parameters of a vehicle engine,
in accordance with a prior art;
[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram representation of a system for engine
thermal management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
5
[0012] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, collectively illustrate a flowchart using pedal
demand and thermal conditions of the vehicle engine for engine thermal
management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0013] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating a method for engine thermal
management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present 5 disclosure;
[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates a graphical representation depicting change in operating
speed of a thermal fan based on pedal demand and thermal parameters of the vehicle
engine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0015] FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a general-purpose computer for engine
10 thermal management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0016] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams
herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles
of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts,
flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent
15 various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable
medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether such computer or
processor is explicitly shown.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] In the present document, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean
20 “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment or
implementation of the present subject matter described herein as “exemplary” is not
necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
[0018] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative
forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the
25 drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however
6
that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but on
the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative
falling within the scope of the disclosure.
[0019] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, or any other variations
thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that 5 a setup, device,
or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those
components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed
or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements
in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more
10 constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the
system or method.
[0020] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure,
reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in
which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the
15 disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail
to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood
that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without
departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is,
therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
20 [0021] The term ‘engine thermal management’ as used herein refers to controlling
the heat in the vehicle engine and ensuring engine’s internal components are
maintained at an optimum temperature as quickly as possible and preventing
overheating. More specifically, energetically optimizing the thermal balance in the
vehicle engine by controlling an operating speed of the thermal fan for efficient
25 utilization of fuel is referred to as engine thermal management. The thermal fan
used in the present invention is an electrically operated viscous fan.
7
[0022] FIG. 1A illustrates an example representation of an environment 100 for
engine thermal management in a vehicle, in which at least some example
embodiments of the disclosure can be implemented. It shall be noted that the vehicle
can be any commercial/private vehicle such as, cars, buses, trucks, autorickshaws,
motorcycles, scooters, and the like that are partially or fully powered 5 by combustion
of fuels.
[0023] The vehicle includes a vehicle engine 102. The vehicle engine 102 may be
one of: a naturally aspirated engine, turbocharged engine, Common Rail Direct
Injection (CRDi) engine, and Multi-Point Fuel Injection (MPFI) engine. Generally,
10 the vehicle engine 102 needs cooling, which is achieved either by air or by liquid
coolant. For example, if the vehicle engine 102 generates less heat, then the vehicle
engine 102 can be cooled down with help of air (i.e. cooling achieved with help of
vehicle speed). Alternatively, liquid coolants may be circulated in vehicle engine
102 in coolant jacket (not shown in FIG. 1A) to cool the vehicle engine 102. This
15 heated coolant is again passed through a radiator 104 to cool down. The radiator
104 is a heat exchanger and the coolant from the radiator 104 is again recirculated
to the coolant jacket once it cooled down in the radiator 104. The radiator 104 cools
down the coolant with help of air flowing on it. More specifically, required amount
of air is blown over the radiator 104 by a thermal fan 106 mounted on engine pulley
20 (not shown in FIG. 1A) mostly at front side of the vehicle engine 102. Alternatively
or additionally, it can achieved by virtue of vehicle speed which allows air to pass
over the radiator 104.
[0024] The thermal fan 106 is one of: mechanically operated viscous or electrically
operated viscous fans. Mechanically operated viscous fan uses the heat available at
25 front side of the radiator 104 to engage or disengage blades of the thermal fan 106
and ultimately controls the operating speed of the thermal fan 106. The operating
speed of electrically operated thermal fan 106 may be controlled by an Electronic
Control Unit (ECU) 130 of the vehicle engine 102 by considering different
parameters, which directly, or indirectly influence the operating speed of the
8
thermal fan 106. More specifically, the ECU 130 controls the motor 108 which
powers the thermal fan 106. Mostly, thermal conditions of the vehicle engine 102
are considered as parameters for determining the operating speed of the thermal fan
106. It shall be noted that controlling the operating speed of the thermal fan 106 has
been explained herein with reference to the electrically operated 5 thermal fan 106.
[0025] The motor 108 of the thermal fan 106 is powered by a battery 140. The
battery 140 manages distribution of electrical energy to electrical components of
the vehicle such as, but not limited to, equipment, such as lighting, radio, power
seats, etc. It shall be noted that the components shown in the vehicle engine 102 are
10 for exemplary purposes and the vehicle engine 102 includes more or less
components. The sensors 110 used herein refer to a plurality of sensors which are
used to sense a wide range of engine parameters such as, but not limited to, engine
speed, pedal demand, and one or more engine thermal parameters of the vehicle
engine 102. For example, speed sensors may be used to sense the engine speed,
15 position sensors may be used to sense position of pedal, and temperature sensors
may be used to sense engine thermal parameters such as, manifold air temperature,
coolant temperature, and the like. It shall be noted that the sensors explained herein
are for exemplary purposes and sensors different from the ones explained herein
may be used for sensing the different engine parameters. For example, pressure
20 sensors may be used to sense the pressure on the pedal to determine pedal demand.
[0026] Conventionally, the thermal conditions of the vehicle engine 102 are used
to control the operating speed of the thermal fan 106. However, such thermal
condition based control of the thermal fan 106 are not fuel efficient as engagement
of the thermal fan 106 is unnecessarily demanded. The drawbacks of the thermal
25 condition based engagement/disengagement of the thermal fan 106 is explained
next with reference to FIG. 1B.
[0027] Referring now to FIG. 1B, a graphical representation 150 depicting change
in operating speed of the thermal fan 106 based on thermal parameters of the vehicle
9
engine 102 is illustrated in accordance with a prior art. As shown in FIG. 1B, a plot
160 shows variation in pedal demand with time, a plot 170 shows change in coolant
temperature with time, a plot 180 shows change in thermal fan demand with time
and a plot 190 shows change in fan speed with time.
[0028] In an example scenario, a driver of the vehicle may have 5 applied higher
force on a clutch pedal when driving the vehicle up a hilly terrain and then
decelerated to normal speed. The acceleration of the vehicle may translate to an
increased pedal demand and an increased coolant temperature. As such, the
graphical representation 150 depicts increased pedal demand of around 64% upto
10 40 seconds and the coolant temperature also increases to approximately 80°C when
the pedal demand is increased. However, although the pedal demand falls to around
34% after 60 seconds, the coolant temperature does not dynamically adapt but
gradually decreases and stabilizes to 83°C only after 108 seconds.
[0029] As shown in FIG. 1B, the thermal fan demand (shown by plot 180)
15 continues to be high even when the pedal demand has decreased. More specifically,
the thermal fan demand in this scenario is determined based on the change in the
coolant temperature (shown by plot 170). As, the coolant temperature takes more
time to decrease even after the pedal demand has significantly decreased, the
thermal fan demand continues to be high upto 176 seconds. This increased thermal
20 fan demand even after the pedal demand of the engine has decreased results in
unnecessary engagement of the thermal fan 106 with an increased thermal speed
which increases fuel consumption of the vehicle.
[0030] Various embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a system 200 for
engine thermal management in vehicles. More specifically, the system 200 uses
25 pedal requirements as a primary input along with other engine parameters such as,
engine speed and one or more engine thermal parameters of the vehicle engine 102.
As the pedal demand experienced by the vehicle engine 102 is dynamic, the
operating speed of the thermal fan 106 is also dynamically varied based on the pedal
10
demand. In addition, the engine thermal parameters, such as coolant temperature
and manifold air temperature are used to determine the operating speed of the
thermal fan accurately. As such, the operating speed of the thermal fan 106 is
determined based on a plurality of engine parameters to efficiently control the
thermal fan 106 and maintain the temperature of the vehicle engine 5 102 which will
be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 2-5.
[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram representation of the system 200 for
engine thermal management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
disclosure. In an embodiment, the system 200 is embodied within an Electronic
10 Control Unit (ECU) of the vehicle. In another system, the system 200 is a standalone
system communicably coupled to the ECU of the vehicle to perform one or more
operations described herein. It shall be noted that components shown in FIG. 2 are
for exemplary purposes to explain functioning of the system 200 and may include
more components, i.e., both hardware and software components, for performing
15 various functionalities to facilitate propulsion of the vehicle.
[0032] The system 200 is depicted to include a processor 202, a memory 204, an
Input/Output module 206, and a communication interface 208. It shall be noted that,
in some embodiments, the system 200 may include more or fewer components than
those depicted herein. The various components of the system 200 may be
20 implemented using hardware, software, firmware or any combinations thereof.
Further, the various components of the system 200 may be operably coupled with
each other. More specifically, various components of the system 200 may be
capable of communicating with each other using communication channel media
(such as buses, interconnects, etc.). It is also noted that one or more components of
25 the system 200 may be implemented in a single server or a plurality of servers,
which are remotely placed from each other.
[0033] In one embodiment, the processor 202 may be embodied as a multi-core
processor, a single core processor, or a combination of one or more multi-core
11
processors and one or more single core processors. For example, the processor 202
may be embodied as one or more of various processing devices, such as a
coprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a
processing circuitry with or without an accompanying DSP, or various other
processing devices including, a microcontroller unit 5 (MCU), a hardware
accelerator, a special-purpose computer chip, or the like.
[0034] In one embodiment, the memory 204 is capable of storing machine
executable instructions, referred to herein as instructions 205. In an embodiment,
the processor 202 is embodied as an executor of software instructions. As such, the
10 processor 202 is capable of executing the instructions 205 stored in the memory
204 to perform one or more operations described herein. The memory 204 can be
any type of storage accessible to the processor 202 to perform respective
functionalities, as will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. For
example, the memory 204 may include one or more volatile or non-volatile
15 memories, or a combination thereof. For example, the memory 204 may be
embodied as semiconductor memories, such as flash memory, mask ROM, PROM
(programmable ROM), EPROM (erasable PROM), RAM (random access
memory), etc. and the like.
[0035] In an embodiment, the processor 202 is configured to execute the
20 instructions 205 for: (1) determine a first demand value based on an engine speed,
a pedal demand and a coolant temperature, (2) determine a second demand value
based on the engine speed, the engine load and the manifold air temperature, (3)
determine an operating speed of the thermal fan 106 based on comparing the first
demand value and the second demand value, (5) operate the thermal fan 106 based
25 on the operating speed to manage the thermal conditions of the vehicle engine 102.
[0036] In an embodiment, the I/O module 206 may include mechanisms configured
to receive inputs from and provide outputs to peripheral devices such as, devices
tracking the plurality of engine parameters and/or an operator of the system 200 .
12
The term ‘operator of the system 200’ as used herein may refer to one or more
individuals, whether directly or indirectly, associated with the configuring the ECU
140 of the vehicle. To enable reception of inputs and provide outputs to the system
200 , the I/O module 206 may include at least one input interface and/or at least one
output interface. Examples of the input interface may include, but 5 are not limited
to, a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, a keypad, a touch screen, soft keys, a
microphone, and the like. Examples of the output interface may include, but are not
limited to, a display such as a light emitting diode display, a thin-film transistor
(TFT) display, a liquid crystal display, an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode
10 (AMOLED) display, a microphone, a speaker, a ringer, and the like.
[0037] In an embodiment, the communication interface 208 may include
mechanisms configured to communicate with other entities in the environment 100.
Some examples of communication protocols/methods employed by the
communication interface 208 include, but not limited to, Controller Area Network
15 (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN), Medium Oriented System Transport
(MOST), Flexray network protocols, and the liked. In other words, the
communication interface 208 is configured to collate data for processing by the
processor 202. For example, the communication interface 208 is configured to
receive a plurality of engine parameters. Some examples of the plurality of engine
20 parameters include, but not limited to, an engine speed, a pedal demand, and one or
more engine thermal parameters of the vehicle engine 102, and the like.
[0038] The term ‘pedal demand’ as used herein refers to an engine demand based
on acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle as applied by a driver of the vehicle
which translates to driver's physical demand from the vehicle engine 102 while
25 driving. In an embodiment, the pedal demand is determined based on at least a
position of an accelerator pedal and an amount of force applied on the accelerator
pedal. The position of the accelerator pedal and the force applied on the accelerator
pedal may be determined by sensors installed in the accelerator pedal. Some
examples of the sensors include, but not limited to, potentiometers, HALL sensors,
13
and the like. As such, the plurality of engine parameters are received from different
sensors installed in the vehicle to monitor respective engine parameters.
[0039] The one or more engine thermal parameters include, but not limited to, a
manifold air temperature and a coolant temperature. The one or more engine
thermal parameters may be measured by suitable temperature sensors 5 known in the
art. In an embodiment, the plurality of engine parameters are forwarded to the
processor 202 which performs one or more operations described herein for engine
thermal management in the vehicle.
[0040] The system 200 is depicted to be in operative communication with a
10 database 220. In one embodiment, the database 220 is configured to store historical
data related to the plurality of engine parameters. In an embodiment, the database
220 may include a first table 222 that stores a plurality of coolant temperatures and
corresponding coolant demand factors. The coolant demand factor is a value that
defines a coolant demand for operating the thermal fan 106 based on the coolant
15 temperature. In other words, the coolant demand factor defines a factor by which
the thermal fan demand is increased or decreased which is in addition to the engine
speed and the pedal demand. As such, the coolant demand factor influences the
operating speed of the thermal fan 106. In an embodiment, the database 220 may
include a second table 224 that stores a plurality of manifold air temperatures and
20 corresponding manifold demand factors. The manifold air demand factor is a value
that defines a manifold air based demand for operating the thermal fan 106 based
on the manifold air temperature. In other words, the manifold air demand factor
defines a factor by which the thermal fan demand is increased or decreased which
is in addition to the engine speed and the pedal demand. As such, the manifold air
25 temperature demand factor influences the operating speed of the thermal fan 106.
It shall be noted that the coolant demand factors and manifold air demand factors
in the table 222 and 224 may be predefined based on past historical data and/or
experimental data that indicate influence of coolant temperature/manifold air
temperature on the operating speed of the thermal fan 106.
14
[0041] In an embodiment, the database 220 has a first calibration map 226 and a
second calibration map 228. The first calibration map 226 is a coolant based
demand map which is a plot of engine speed and pedal demand. More specifically,
the first calibration map 226 specifies the coolant based fan base demand value for
engine speed and pedal demand throughout their operating range. 5 In an example, if
the engine speed is 1600 RPM and the pedal demand of the vehicle engine 102 is
33%, then the processor 202 automatically looks up the first calibration map 226 in
the database 220 to determine the coolant based fan base demand value as 700 rpm.
As such, the second calibration map 228 specifies the MAT based fan base demand
10 value for engine speed and pedal demand throughout their operating range. In an
example, if the engine speed is 1600 RPM and the pedal demand of the vehicle
engine 102 is 33%, then the processor 202 automatically looks up the second
calibration map 228 in the database 220 to determine the coolant based fan base
demand value as 650 rpm. It shall be noted that the calibration maps 226 and 228
15 are based on theoretical data, real-time data collated from vehicle engines and
experience obtained from engine and vehicle design and development trials at
various operating and environmental conditions to maintain the engine thermal
conditions within a safe operating range. It shall be noted that although, engine
speed and the engine demand are the same, requirements of the coolant temperature
20 and the MAT may be different to maintain the thermal conditions of the vehicle
engine 102. Further, it shall be noted that the coolant temperature and the MAT
may be determined based on historical and experimental data collated from vehicle
engines such as, the vehicle engine 102. Moreover, the first calibration map 226
and the second calibration map 228 may be individually calibrated and stored in the
25 database 220.
[0042] The database 220 may include multiple storage units such as hard disks
and/or solid-state disks in a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID)
configuration. In some embodiments, the database 220 may include a storage area
network (SAN) and/or a network attached storage (NAS) system. In one
30 embodiment, the database 220 may correspond to a distributed storage system,
15
wherein individual databases are configured to store custom information, such as
specification of the thermal fan 106, specifications of the vehicle engine 102,
optimal operating ranges for the thermal fan 106 for a plurality of engine load
demands, etc.
[0043] Further, the database 220 may store information related 5 to the vehicle
engine 102 such as, but not limited to, compression ratio, swept volume, clearance
volume, power output, indicated power, thermal efficiency, indicated mean
effective pressure, brake mean effective pressure, specific fuel consumption,
torque, horsepower, and RPM (shaft speed), and the like. In some example
10 embodiments, the database 220 may store heuristics for determining the operating
speed of the thermal fan 106. Further, the database 220 may also include historical
data such as, history of error messages, diagnostic messages, engine failure causes,
and the like which may be used for determining an optimal operating speed of the
thermal fan 106.
15 [0044] In some embodiments, the database 220 is integrated within the system 200.
For example, the system 200 may include one or more hard disk drives as the
database 220. In other embodiments, the database 220 is external to the system 200
and may be accessed by the system 200 using a storage interface (not shown in
FIG. 2). The storage interface is any component capable of providing the processor
20 202 with access to the database 220. The storage interface may include, for
example, an Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) adapter, a Serial ATA
(SATA) adapter, a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) adapter, a RAID
controller, a SAN adapter, a network adapter, and/or any component providing the
processor 202 with access to the database 220.
25 [0045] As already explained, the communication interface 208 is configured to
receive the plurality of engine parameters in real-time from a plurality of sensors.
The communication interface 208 is configured to forward the plurality of engine
parameters to the processor 202. The processor 202 in conjunction with the
16
instructions 205 in the memory 204 is configured to process the plurality of engine
parameters for efficient engine thermal management. More specifically, the
processor 202 is configured to control operation of the thermal fan 106 mounted on
the vehicle engine 102 to efficiently manage the thermal conditions of the vehicle
engine 102. The processing of the plurality of engine parameters 5 by the processor
202 of the system 200 is explained next in detail with reference to FIG. 3.
[0046] FIGS. 3A-3C collectively illustrate a flowchart of a method 300 for
operating the thermal fan 106 to manage the thermal conditions of the vehicle
engine 102, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As already
10 explained, the pedal usage in the vehicle may be continuously monitored to control
operation of the thermal fan 106 in the vehicle engine 102. It shall be noted that the
thermal condition of the vehicle engine 102 are used in addition to the pedal demand
(i.e., the pedal usage) of the driver to determine the optimal operating speed for the
thermal fan 106 as will be described hereinafter.
15 [0047] At 302, engine speed and pedal demand are received by the processor 202.
As already explained, sensors may be used to determine the engine speed in terms
of Revolutions per minute (RPM). More specifically, the engine speed refers to a
number of rotation of engine's crankshaft when the vehicle engine 102 is powered
on. The pedal demand may also be received from position sensors which
20 continuously monitor position of at least one of the accelerator pedal, clutch pedal
and brake pedal.
[0048] At 304, a first base demand value (B1) is determined based on the engine
speed and the pedal demand. More specifically, the first base demand value (B1)
indicates a base demand of thermal fan 106 based on the coolant demand. In other
25 words, the processor 202 is configured to lookup the first calibration map 226 to
determine the first base demand value (B1) based on the engine speed and the pedal
demand. More specifically, the first calibration map 226 specifies an optimal
coolant based fan base demand value for the operational engine speed and the pedal
17
demand. Accordingly, the thermal fan 106 needs to be operated by the processor
202 to achieve the optimal coolant temperature for which the first calibration map
226 is developed. I. In an example, if the engine speed is 1600 RPM and the pedal
demand is 45%, then the processor 202 may determine from the first calibration
map 226 that the first base demand value (B1) for operating the 5 thermal fan as 900
RPM. It shall be noted that the first base demand value (B1) explained herein is for
exemplary purposes and the first base demand value (B1) may be dynamically
determined for different values of engine speed and pedal demand based on the first
calibration map 226.
10 [0049] At 306, a second base demand value (B2) is determined based on the engine
speed and the pedal demand. More specifically, the second base demand value (B2)
indicates a base demand of thermal fan 106 based on the MAT demand. In other
words, the processor 202 is configured to lookup the second calibration map 228 to
determine the second base demand value (B2) based on the engine speed and the
15 pedal demand. More specifically, the second calibration map 228 specifies an
optimal MAT based fan base demand value for the operational engine speed and
the pedal demand. Accordingly, the thermal fan 106 needs to be operated by the
processor 202 to achieve the optimal manifold air temperature for which the second
calibration map 228 is developed. In an example, if the engine speed is 1600 RPM
20 and the pedal demand is 45%, then the processor may determine from the first
calibration map 228 the second base demand value (B1) for operating the thermal
fan as 1000 RPM. It shall be noted that the first base demand value (B1) and the
second base demand value (B2) explained herein is for exemplary purposes and the
first base demand value (B1) and the second base demand value (B2) may be
25 dynamically determined for different values of engine speed and pedal demand
based on the first calibration map 226 and the second calibration map 228,
respectively.
18
[0050] At 308, a coolant temperature is received by the processor 202. As already
explained, a temperature sensor may be deployed to continuously monitor the
coolant temperature.
[0051] At 310, a coolant demand factor is determined based on the coolant
temperature. As already explained, the database 220 maintains the 5 first table 222 of
the plurality of coolant temperatures with a corresponding coolant demand factor.
In an example, if the coolant temperature is 80°C, then the coolant demand factor
is 0.6. It shall be noted that the coolant demand factor is specified as value been 0
and 1. However, the coolant demand factor may be specified in a different range
10 than the one specified above. In another embodiment, ranges of coolant
temperatures may be defined and corresponding demand factor may be specified.
In an example, coolant temperatures of 5°C - 10°C may correspond to a coolant
demand factor of 0.1, coolant temperatures of 11°C - 20°C may correspond to a
coolant demand factor of 0.2, coolant temperatures of 21°C to 30°C may correspond
15 to a coolant demand factor of 0.3, and so on.
[0052] At 312, the first demand value (D1) is determined based on the first base
demand value (B1) and the coolant demand factor. In an embodiment, the first base
demand value (B1) is multiplied with the coolant demand factor to determine the
first demand value (D1). The first demand value (D1) corresponds to the first base
20 demand value (B1) of the thermal fan 106 based on the coolant temperature. In an
example, if the first base demand value (B1) is 1000 RPM and the coolant demand
factor is 0.6 (i.e., coolant temperature is 80°C), then the first demand value (D1)
determined based on the coolant temperature, engine speed and the first demand
value (B1) is 600 RPM.
25 [0053] At 314, a manifold air temperature is received by the processor 202. As
already explained, a temperature sensor may be deployed to continuously monitor
the manifold air temperature.
19
[0054] At 316, a manifold air demand factor is determined based on the manifold
air temperature. As already explained, the database 220 maintains the second table
224 of the plurality of manifold air temperatures with a corresponding manifold air
demand factor. In an example, if the manifold air temperature is 55°C, then the
manifold air demand factor is 0.9. It shall be noted that the manifold 5 air demand
factor is specified as a value been 0 and 1. However, the manifold air demand factor
may be specified in a different range than the one specified above. In another
embodiment, ranges of manifold air temperatures may be defined and
corresponding manifold air demand factor may be specified. In an example,
10 manifold air temperatures of 50°C - 56°C may correspond to a manifold air demand
factor of 0.9, manifold air temperatures of 57°C - 65°C may correspond to a
manifold air demand factor of 1, and so on. It shall be noted that the manifold air
demand factors mentioned hereinabove are for exemplary purposes and the
manifold air demand factors may be determined from the second table 224 in the
15 database.
[0055] At 318, the second demand value (D2) is determined based on the second
base demand value (B2) and the manifold air demand factor. In an embodiment, the
second base demand value (B2) is multiplied with the manifold air demand factor
to determine the second demand value (D2). The second demand value (D2)
20 corresponds to the second base demand value (B2) of the thermal fan 106 based on
the manifold air temperature. In an example, if the second base demand value (B2)
is 1000 RPM and the manifold air demand factor is 0.9 (i.e., manifold air
temperature is 55°C), then the second demand value (D2) is determined based on
the manifold air temperature, engine speed and the second base demand value (B2)
25 is 900 RPM.
[0056] At 320, an operating speed of the thermal fan 106is determined based on
comparing the first demand value and the second demand value. In an embodiment,
a maximum of the first demand value (D1) and the second demand value (D2) is the
operating speed (STF) of the thermal fan 106. In an example, the first demand value
20
(D1) based on the coolant temperature is 600 RPM and the second demand value
(D2) based on the manifold air temperature is 900 RPM, the operating speed of the
thermal fan 106 is STF = max(D1, D2) which will result in the operating speed of the
thermal fan (STF) at 900 RPM.
[0057] At 322, a thermal fan clutch of the thermal fan 106 is selectively 5 engaged
or disengaged based on the operating speed. In an example, if the operating speed
of the thermal fan is currently determined as 1000 RPM, then the thermal fan clutch
is disengaged to reduce the operating speed of the thermal fan 106. In another
example, if the operating speed of the thermal fan 106 is currently determined as
10 700 RPM, then the thermal fan clutch is engaged to increase the operating speed of
the thermal fan 106. In general, an optimal operating speed of the thermal fan 106
is determined based on the engine speed, pedal demand and the thermal condition
of the vehicle engine 102. In general, controlling the operating speed of thermal fan
106 is ensured to maintain engine (coolant) temperature and intercooler
15 temperature, more specifically, the temperature of intake manifold air temperature
is indirectly controlled.
[0058] At 324, a current speed (SCF) of the thermal fan 106 is monitored. In order
to control the thermal fan 106 to engage or disengage with the thermal fan clutch,
the current speed (SCF) of the thermal fan 106 is determined. In an example, the
20 current speed (SCF) of the thermal fan 106 may be determined as 600 RPM. More
specifically, a speed sensor may be used to determine the current speed (SCF) of the
thermal fan 106.
[0059] At 326, a difference between the operating speed (STF) and the current speed
(SCF) of the thermal fan 106 is determined. Typically, this difference (i.e., STF - SCF)
25 signifies the amount by which the thermal fan 106 needs to be operated to
effectively manage the thermal conditions of the vehicle engine 102. In an example,
if the current speed (SCF) of the thermal fan 106 is 600 RPM and if the operating
speed (STF) of the thermal fan 106 is 900 RPM, then the difference is 300 RPM.
21
[0060] At 328, the current speed of the thermal fan 106 is dynamically adapted to
the operational speed based on the difference. As explained, the difference is used
to dynamically adapt the operational speed of the thermal fan 106.
[0061] The sequence of operations of the method 300 need not be necessarily
executed in the same order as they are presented. Further, one 5 or more operations
may be grouped together and performed in form of a single step, or one operation
may have several sub-steps that may be performed in parallel or in sequential
manner. For example, the first demand value and the second demand value may be
determined in parallel. A method for engine thermal management in vehicles is
10 explained next with reference to FIG. 4.
[0062] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 for engine thermal
management in vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
disclosure. The method 400 depicted in the flow diagram may be executed by, for
example, the system 200 shown and explained with reference to FIGS. 2-3.
15 Operations of the flow diagram, and combinations of operation in the flow diagram,
may be implemented by, for example, hardware, firmware, a processor, circuitry
and/or a different device associated with the execution of software that includes one
or more computer program instructions. The operations of the method 400 are
described herein with help of the system 200. It is noted that the operations of the
20 method 200 can be described and/or practiced by using one or more processors of
a system/device other than the system 200. In an example, the operations of the
method 400 may be performed by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the vehicle.
The method 400 starts at operation 402.
[0063] At operation 402 of the method 400, a plurality of engine parameters are
25 received from a vehicle engine 102 by a processor, for example, the processor 202
of the system 200 shown and explained with reference to FIG. 2. The plurality of
engine parameters are an engine speed, a pedal demand, and one or more engine
thermal parameters of the vehicle engine 102. The one or more engine thermal
22
parameters of the vehicle engine 102 are a manifold air temperature and a coolant
temperature.
[0064] At operation 404 of the method 400, an operating speed of the thermal fan
106 mounted on the vehicle engine 102 is determined based on the plurality of
engine parameters. More specifically, a first demand value is determined 5 based on
the engine speed, pedal demand and the coolant temperature and a second demand
value is determined based on the engine speed, the pedal demand and the manifold
air temperature. In general, a first base demand value (B1) and a second base
demand value (B2) is determined based on the engine speed and the engine load.
10 Determination of the first base demand value and the second base demand value is
explained with reference to FIG. 3C.
[0065] Thereafter, a coolant demand factor is determined based on the coolant
temperature and a manifold air demand factor is determined based on the manifold
air temperature. As such, the first demand value (D1) is determined based on the
15 first base demand value (B1) and the coolant demand factor and the second demand
value (D2) is determined based on the second base demand value (B2) and the
manifold air demand factor. The operating speed of the thermal fan 106 is
determined as a maximum of the first demand value (D1) and the second demand
value (D1). Determining the operating speed of the thermal fan 106 of the vehicle
20 engine 102 is explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 3A-3C and is not
explained herein for the sake of brevity.
[0066] At operation 406 of the method 400, the thermal fan 106 is operated based
on the operating speed to manage the thermal conditions of the vehicle engine 102.
[0067] As illustrated in FIG. 4, the method 400 may include one or more blocks
25 illustrating a method for controlling operating speed of the thermal fan 106 to
ensure engine thermal management. The method 400 may be described in the
general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer
23
executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data
structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform specific functions or
implement specific abstract data types.
[0068] The order in which the method 400 is described is not intended to be
construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method 5 blocks can be
combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks
may be deleted from the methods without departing from the scope of the subject
matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any
suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.
10 [0069] The disclosed method 400 with reference to FIG. 4, or one or more
operations of the flow diagram 400 may be implemented using software including
computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable media
(e.g., non-transitory computer-readable media, such as one or more optical media
discs, volatile memory components (e.g., DRAM or SRAM), or non-volatile
15 memory or storage components (e.g., hard drives or solid-state non-volatile
memory components, such as Flash memory components) and executed on a
computer (e.g., any suitable computer, such as a laptop computer, net book, Web
book, tablet computing device, smart phone, or other mobile computing device).
Such software may be executed, for example, on a single local computer.
20 [0070] Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized
in implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. A computerreadable
storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which
information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computerreadable
storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more
25 processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or
stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computerreadable
medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude
carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., be non-transitory. Examples include
24
Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory,
non-volatile memory, hard drives, CD (Compact Disc) ROMs, DVDs, flash drives,
disks, and any other known physical storage media.
[0071] FIG. 5 illustrates a graphical representation 500 depicting change in
operating speed of a thermal fan 106 based on pedal 5 demand and thermal
parameters of the vehicle engine 102, in accordance with an embodiment of the
present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, a plot 510 shows variation in pedal demand
with time, a plot 520 shows change in coolant temperature with time, a plot 530
shows change in thermal fan demand with time and a plot 540 shows change in fan
10 speed with time.
[0072] As already explained, the operating speed of the thermal fan 106 is
determined based on the first demand value and the second demand value. The first
demand value is determined based on the engine speed, pedal demand and the
coolant temperature whereas the second demand value is determined based on the
15 engine speed, the pedal demand and the manifold air temperature. As the operating
speed of the thermal fan 106 is determined based on the pedal demand and the
thermal conditions of the vehicle engine 102, the thermal fan 106 may be operated
at optimal speed to manage the thermal conditions of the vehicle engine 102
effectively.
20 [0073] As shown in FIG. 5, the plot 510 depicts the pedal demand to reduce at 120
seconds. However, the coolant temperature takes time to reduce from ~84°C at 120
seconds to 83.4°C at 210 seconds. More specifically, if the thermal conditions alone
are considered, for example, coolant temperature, then the thermal fan 106 will be
engaged for a longer time to reduce the heat generated in the vehicle engine 102 as
25 described with reference to FIG. 1B. In general, even though the pedal demand
has reduced substantially, the thermal fan 106 continues to be engaged and may
result in increased fuel consumption.
25
[0074] In an embodiment, the thermal fan 106 is engaged/disengaged based on the
pedal demand and the thermal conditions of the vehicle engine 102. As such, when
the pedal demand reduces at 120 seconds (see, plot 510), the thermal fan demand
reduces as shown by plot 530. Subsequently, the operating speed of the thermal fan
106 is also dynamically adapted based on the thermal fan demand 5 at 120 seconds
as shown by the plot 540. It is apparent from FIG. 5, that the fan speed reduces by
almost 400 RPM as soon as the pedal demand decreased. Accordingly, the thermal
fan 106 engagement/disengagement is fast based on the pedal demand and the
thermal conditions of the vehicle engine 102 thereby improving not only the fuel
10 efficiency of the vehicle but also prolonging life of the vehicle engine 102.
[0075] FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a general-purpose computer for engine
thermal management of a vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
disclosure. The computer system 600 may comprise a central processing unit
(“CPU” or “processor”) 602. The processor 602 may comprise at least one data
15 processor. The processor 602 may include specialized processing units such as
integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating
point units, graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, etc. The
computer system 600 may be analogous to the system 200 (shown in FIG. 2).
[0076] The processor 602 may be disposed in communication with one or more
20 input/output (I/O) devices (not shown) via I/O interface 601. The I/O interface 601
may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio,
analog, digital, monoaural, Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect
Network (LIN), Medium Oriented System Transport (MOST) and Flexray network
protocols, RCA, stereo, IEEE-1394, serial bus, universal serial bus (USB), infrared,
25 PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component, composite, digital visual interface (DVI), highdefinition
multimedia interface (HDMI), Radio Frequency (RF) antennas, S-Video,
VGA, IEEE 802.n /b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., code-division multiple access
(CDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA+), global system for mobile
communications (GSM), long-term evolution (LTE), WiMax, or the like), etc.
26
[0077] Using the I/O interface 601, the computer system 600 may communicate
with one or more I/O devices, such as, other computer systems within the vehicle
(e.g., other ECUs, Battery Management System (BMS), On Board Diagnostics
(OBD), etc. For example, the input device 610 may be an antenna, keyboard,
mouse, joystick, (infrared) remote control, camera, card reader, 5 fax machine,
dongle, biometric reader, microphone, touch screen, touchpad, trackball, stylus,
scanner, storage device, transceiver, video device/source, etc. The output device
611 may be a printer, fax machine, video display (e.g., cathode ray tube (CRT),
liquid crystal display (LCD), light-emitting diode (LED), plasma, Plasma display
10 panel (PDP), Organic light-emitting diode display (OLED) or the like), audio
speaker, etc.
[0078] In some embodiments, the computer system 600 is connected to the remote
devices 612 through a communication network 609. The remote devices 612 may
be peripheral devices tracking a plurality of engine parameters such as, but not
15 limited to, engine speed, a pedal demand, and one or more engine thermal
parameters of the vehicle engine 102. The processor 602 may be disposed in
communication with the communication network 609 via a network interface 603.
The network interface 603 may communicate with the communication network 609.
The network interface 603 may employ connection protocols including, without
20 limitation, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T),
transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE
802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc. The communication network 609 may include, without
limitation, a direct interconnection, local area network (LAN), wide area network
(WAN), wireless network (e.g., using Wireless Application Protocol), the Internet,
25 etc. Using the network interface 603 and the communication network 609, the
computer system 600 may communicate with the remote devices 612. The network
interface 603 may employ connection protocols include, but not limited to, direct
connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), transmission control
protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc.
27
[0079] The communication network 609 includes, but is not limited to, a direct
interconnection, an e-commerce network, a peer to peer (P2P) network, local area
network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), wireless network (e.g., using Wireless
Application Protocol), the Internet, Wi-Fi, 3GPP and such. The first network and
the second network may either be a dedicated network or a shared 5 network, which
represents an association of the different types of networks that use a variety of
protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc., to
communicate with each other. Further, the first network and the second network
10 may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers,
computing devices, storage devices, etc.
[0080] In some embodiments, the processor 602 may be disposed in
communication with a memory 605 (e.g., RAM, ROM, etc. not shown in FIG. 6)
via a storage interface 604. The storage interface 604 may connect to memory 605
15 including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc.,
employing connection protocols such as serial advanced technology attachment
(SATA), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, Universal Serial Bus
(USB), fiber channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), etc. The memory
drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive,
20 optical drive, Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID), solid-state memory
devices, solid-state drives, etc.
[0081] The memory 605 may store a collection of program or database
components, including, without limitation, user interface 606, an operating system
607, web server 608, etc. In some embodiments, computer system 600 may store
25 user/application data, such as, the data, variables, records, etc., as described in this
disclosure. Such databases may be implemented as fault-tolerant, relational,
scalable, secure databases such as Oracle ® or Sybase®.
28
[0082] The operating system 607 may facilitate resource management and
operation of the computer system 600. Examples of operating systems include,
without limitation, APPLE MACINTOSH® OS X, UNIX®, UNIX-like system
distributions (e.g., BERKELEY SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION™ (BSD),
FREEBSD™, NETBSD™, OPENBSD™, etc.), LINUX 5 DISTRIBUTIONS™
(e.g., RED HAT™, UBUNTU™, KUBUNTU™, etc.), IBM™ OS/2,
MICROSOFT™ WINDOWS™ (XP™, VISTA™/7/8, 10 etc.), APPLE® IOS™,
GOOGLE® ANDROID™, BLACKBERRY® OS, AUTOSAR, RealVNC, or the
like.
10 [0083] In some embodiments, the computer system 600 may implement a web
browser 608 stored program component. The web browser 608 may be a hypertext
viewing application, for example MICROSOFT® INTERNET EXPLORER™,
GOOGLE® CHROME™, MOZILLA® FIREFOX™, APPLE® SAFARI™, etc.
Secure web browsing may be provided using Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol
15 (HTTPS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), etc. Web
browsers 608 may utilize facilities such as AJAX™, DHTML™, ADOBER
FLASH™, JAVASCRIPT™, JAVA™, Application Programming Interfaces
(APIs), etc. In some embodiments, the computer system 600 may implement a mail
server stored program component. The mail server may be an Internet mail server
20 such as Microsoft Exchange, or the like. The mail server may utilize facilities such
as ASP™, ACTIVEX™, ANSI™ C++/C#, MICROSOFT®, .NET™, CGI
SCRIPTS™, JAVA™, JAVASCRIPT™, PERL™, PHP™, PYTHON™,
WEBOBJECTS™, etc. The mail server may utilize communication protocols such
as Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application
25 Programming Interface (MAPI), MICROSOFT® exchange, Post Office Protocol
(POP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), or the like. In some embodiments,
the computer system 600 may implement a mail client stored program component.
The mail client may be a mail viewing application, such as APPLE® MAIL™,
MICROSOFT® ENTOURAGE™, MICROSOFT® OUTLOOK™, MOZILLA®
30 THUNDERBIRD™, etc.
29
[0084] Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized
in implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. A computerreadable
storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which
information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computerreadable
storage medium may store instructions for execution 5 by one or more
processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or
stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computerreadable
medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude
carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., be non-transitory. Examples include
10 Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory,
non-volatile memory, hard drives, CD (Compact Disc) ROMs, DVDs, flash drives,
disks, and any other known physical storage media.
[0085] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide numerous
advantages. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and system
15 for engine thermal management in vehicles. More specifically, techniques propose
method to improve the performance of electrically controlled viscous thermal fan
and provide better control over the operating speed of the thermal fan 106 with
respect to engine speed, pedal demand and thermal conditions of the vehicle. As
such, pedal requirement of the driver is taken as a primary input along with engine
20 speed which is transient. Additionally, coolant temperature and manifold air
temperature are considered to determine a thermal fan demand that is more accurate
which ensures extra load of thermal fan 106 is not incurred during less acceleration
conditions. In general, the operating speed of the thermal fan 106 is controlled such
that unnecessary thermal fan 106 engagement is precluded for acceptable engine
25 thermal conditions irrespective of pedal requirement. Further, the method improves
the demand accuracy of thermal fan 106 to maintain optimum engine operation
temperature throughout the vehicle driving cycles at all ambient conditions.
Moreover, considering coolant temperature factor inline with pedal demand will
help to minimize thermal fan demand in low coolant temperature conditions
30 irrespective of pedal demand and as such, unnecessary engagement of thermal fan
30
106 can be avoided. Furthermore, controlling the operating speed of the thermal fan
106 based on the pedal demand and thermal conditions of the vehicle ensures
dynamic adaptation in the operating speed of the thermal fan 106 and hence the
thermal fan 106 increases/decreases the operating speed immediately. In general,
as the thermal fan 106 does not wait for the coolant temperature to 5 start decreasing
as the pedal demand start decreasing, the operating speed of the thermal fan 106
decreases which decreases power consumption of the thermal fan 106. Accordingly,
the use of pedal demand to determine the operating speed of the thermal fan 106
ensures performance improvement of the vehicle engine 102 with better fuel
10 economy.
[0086] The terms "an embodiment", "embodiment", "embodiments", "the
embodiment", "the embodiments", "one or more embodiments", "some
embodiments", and "one embodiment" mean "one or more (but not all)
embodiments of the invention(s)" unless expressly specified otherwise.
15 [0087] The terms "including", "comprising", “having” and variations thereof mean
"including but not limited to", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[0088] The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all the items are
mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms "a", "an" and
"the" mean "one or more", unless expressly specified otherwise.
20 [0089] A description of an embodiment with several components in communication
with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the
contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide
variety of possible embodiments of the invention.
[0090] When a single device or article is described herein, it will be clear that more
25 than one device/article (whether they cooperate) may be used in place of a single
device/article. Similarly, where more than one device/article is described herein
(whether they cooperate), it will be clear that a single device/article may be used in
place of the more than one device/article or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of invention need not include the device itself.
[0091] Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
[0092] While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

We Claim:
1. A method for engine thermal management, comprising:
receiving, by a processor (202), a plurality of engine parameters from a vehicle engine (102), wherein the plurality of engine parameters are an engine speed, a pedal demand, and one or more engine thermal parameters of the vehicle engine (102);
determining, by the processor (202), an operating speed of a thermal fan (106) mounted on the vehicle engine (102) based on the plurality of engine parameters; and
operating, by the processor (202), the thermal fan (106) based on the operating speed to manage the thermal conditions of the vehicle engine (102).
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more thermal parameters of the vehicle engine (102) comprise: a manifold air temperature and a coolant temperature.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein determining the operating speed of the thermal fan (106) comprises:
determining, by the processor (202), a first demand value based on the engine speed, the engine load and the coolant temperature;
determining, by the processor (202), a second demand value based on the engine speed, the engine load and the manifold air temperature; and
determining, by the processor (202), the operating speed of the thermal fan (106) based on comparing the first demand value and the second demand value,
wherein the operating speed of the thermal fan (106) is a maximum of the first demand value and the second demand value.
4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein determining the first demand
value comprises:

determining, by the processor (202), a coolant demand factor based on the coolant temperature;
determining, by the processor (202), a first base demand value based on the engine speed and the engine load; and
determining, by the processor (202), the first demand value based on the first base demand value and the coolant demand factor.
5. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein determining the second demand
value comprises:
determining, by the processor (202), a manifold air demand factor based on the manifold air temperature;
determining, by the processor (202), a second base demand value based on the engine speed and the engine load; and
determining, by the processor (202), the second demand value based on the second base demand value and the manifold air demand factor.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein operating the thermal fan (106)
comprises:
selectively engaging or disengaging a thermal fan clutch of the thermal fan (106) based on the operating speed.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein operating the thermal fan further
comprises:
monitoring, by the processor (202), a current speed of the thermal fan (106);
determining, by the processor (202), a difference between the operating speed and the current speed of the thermal fan (106);
dynamically adapting, by the processor (202), the current speed of the thermal fan (106) to the operational speed based on the difference.
8. A system (200) for engine thermal management, comprising:

a memory (204) configured to store instructions (205); and
a processor (202) configured to execute the instructions (205) stored in the memory (204) and thereby configured to:
receive a plurality of engine parameters from a vehicle engine (102), wherein the plurality of engine parameters are an engine speed, a pedal demand, and one or more engine thermal parameters of the vehicle engine (102);
determine an operating speed of a thermal fan (106) mounted on the vehicle engine (102) based on the plurality of engine parameters; and
operate the thermal fan (106) based on the operating speed to manage the thermal conditions of the vehicle engine (102).
9. The system (200) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the one or more thermal parameters of the vehicle engine (102) comprise: a manifold air temperature and a coolant temperature.
10. The system (200) as claimed in claim 9, wherein for determining the operating speed of the thermal fan (106), the processor (202) is configured to:
determine a first demand value based on the engine speed, the engine load and the coolant temperature;
determine a second demand value based on the engine speed, the engine load and the manifold air temperature; and
determine the operating speed of the thermal fan (106) based on comparing the first demand value and the second demand value,
wherein the operating speed of the thermal fan (106) is a maximum of the first demand value and the second demand value.
11. The system (200) as claimed in claim 10, wherein for determining the first
demand value, the processor (202) is configured to:
determine a coolant demand factor based on the coolant temperature;

determine a base demand value based on the engine speed and the engine load; and
determine the first demand value based on the base demand value and the coolant demand factor.
12. The system (200) as claimed in claim 10, wherein for determining the
second demand value, the processor (202) is configured to:
determine a manifold air demand factor based on the manifold air temperature;
determine a base demand value based on the engine speed and the engine load; and
determine the second demand value based on the base demand value and the manifold air demand factor.
13. The system (200) as claimed in claim 8, wherein for operating the thermal
fan (106), the processor (202) is configured to:
selectively engage or disengage a thermal fan clutch of the thermal fan (106) based on the operating speed.
14. The system (200) as claimed in claim 8, wherein for operating the thermal
fan (106), the processor (202) is further configured to:
monitor a current speed of the thermal fan (106);
determine a difference between the operating speed and the current speed of the thermal fan (106);
dynamically adapt the current speed of the thermal fan (106) to the operational speed based on the difference.