Theoretical and experimental evaluation of electric coolant pump benefits in real driving cycles

Engine thermal management is a promising option to reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions of Internal Combustion Engines. This is particularly suitable to support the transition towards a carbon-neutral transportation sector, considering that the role of combustion engines is expected to persist in the near and medium future. In this study, a prototype pump electrically actuated was compared to a mechanical pump of a downsized gasoline engine that propels a real vehicle. In the first phase of the analysis, the cooling circuit was tested from a hydraulic point of view on all its branches using an engine mounted on a bench equal to that working on the vehicle. The hydraulic circuit was fully characterized via pressure transducers and flow meters in all branches for different thermostat lifts, representing different coolant temperatures. On the same bench, the OEM pump and an electrically actuated one, suitably redesigned on an operating point more representative of the real operating conditions, were tested. A vehicle propelled with the same tested engine (having a conventional mechanically actuated pump) was run on the road following three different driving cycles. The engine revolution speeds were registered, as well as the temperature of the cooling fluid. The electric and mechanical pumps were compared using the performance maps previously obtained. The electric pump speed was set to deliver the same coolant flow rate as the OEM pump, following the same sequence of thermostat lifts. The results show that a 60 % average reduction of the pump energy consumption is possible, leading to an average specific CO2 emission reduction of 1 g/km. This result is even more relevant during urban driving, with emission savings hitting 2.5 g/km.