By Dalano Bass
Two
teams from Chrysler and the center for automotive research from Ohio State have
developed a new approach to maximizing drivetrain efficiency and reducing fuel
consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. They determined how to capture and distribute
that waste heat energy to the transmission and engine oils on demand. Their
plan is to use the waste heat energy produced in the combustion engines. Less
torque will be required due to temperature oils viscosity at higher temperatures.
For this concept to work, a new software, transmission heat exchanger, and
plumbing must be in place. This allows operation of transmissions and engines
at higher mechanical efficiencies. To improve fuel economy, automakers needed
to select optimal coolant-circuit architectures, heat exchangers, and
flow-control devices. These devices will help warmup the drivetrain oils and
run at a slightly higher temperature without hydraulic power.
Successfully
completed, significant fuel savings are a result. The higher oil temperatures
and shorter warm up time turned into a 4% increase in fuel economy. The largest
efficiency occurred when starting from a cold start. This is system is used in
Europe unfortunately, it is not on the market. Chrysler is interested in this approach
to use in newer model vehicles as well as be incorporated into manufactured powertrains.
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