TESCOR DESIGNS CALORIMETER RADIATOR / CHARGE AIR COOLER FIRST AUTOMOBILE GROUP IN CHINA

Warminster, PA, January 2003 – Tescor, Inc. has recently designed and manufactured a Calorimeter Radiator and Charge Air Cooler unit for the First Automobile Group in China.

The Calorimeter Test Facility is presented as a walk-in size chamber where temperature is precisely maintained at set point conditions (±0.1°C) with temperature and air flow independently controlled. The chamber acts as a large reservoir of thoroughly mixed air at stable conditions for the Radiator or Charge Air Cooler inlet while it also provides maximum accessibility to mount the test unit (UUT) on the inlet mounting face of the code tester. The operator can walk-in to the front face of the code tester with a UUT mounted on a fixed plywood subplate and clamp the wood plate in seconds.

Easy access to the inlet and outlet air lines is another advantage of this design. Any chances for air leaks at the inlet of the UUT are eliminated and inlet airflow profiles are controlled by the air flow resistance of the UUT. All these features combined in the Tescor design approach yield superior testing results.

The Chamber itself is fully independent and thermally isolated. The walls, floors, and ceilings are manufactured from foamed-in-place, 4” thick, urethane insulated panels, with a 22 gage aluminum skin for the outer surfaces and white aluminum for the inner surfaces. They are joined by Camlock fasteners that facilitate field erection. Each panel comes equipped with a vapor seal (vinyl rubber gasket) at the tongue-and-groove joint which is coated with a silicone rubber compound to further prelude the possibility of moisture migration across the walls. This redundant seal will extend the useful life of the panels’ 10 year warranty. The urethane insulation assures an overall “U” value of less than .035 Btu/hr/square foot/°F which minimizes transmission losses, thereby improving the test data quality. The floors of the chambers are also fabricated from foamed-in-place urethane panels. These panels have a heavy gage stainless steel surface which will withstand loadings in excess of 600 pounds per square foot. The exposed exterior walls are plain stucco aluminum.

The personnel double doorway provided measures 96” x 84”, large enough to allow entrance of the largest Radiator or Charge Air Cooler equipment to be tested in the room. Doors are fully gasketed and include a 14” x 24” window in each leaf.

This Calorimeter test facility combines testing of radiators, charge air coolers, fans and modules. The major features include walk-in test chamber temperature ranges of from 20 to 90°C, an Air Enthalpy Tunnel or Code Tester which allows for precise measurement of capacity with ranges of 0.2 to 12 KG/S (352 to 21,120 SCFM), and a refrigeration system and fresh air mixing for maximum 250 KW heat dissipation. Also provided is a Water/Glycol variable flow loop for radiators/250 KW/0.1 to 7 L/S /35 to 100°C; a Charge Air Loop for charge air coolers/65 KW/1.8 to 60 KG/min/60 to232°C/1.0 to 2.75 Bar, and a Computer Data Acquisition System with programs to allow individual testing of radiators, charge air coolers, fans and modules.

Tescor designed this Calorimeter Test Facility to exceed ASHRAE 33 Stability and Measurement Accuracy requirements by a minimum factor of 2, with resulting heat balance agreements exceeding ASHRAE 33 requirements by a factor of 2. With UUT performance measured by the Tunnel Air Enthalpy Method and the Hot Air Mass Flow or the Glycol/water Mass Flow/Enthalpy method, this Facility can achieve an absolute heat imbalance of 2% or better, in the range: maximum to 10% of maximum variables. Repeatability of test results for consecutive testing of a UUT at the same condition will yield less than 1% capacity variation for at least 90% of repeat tests.

For more information about Tescor’s custom-engineered equipment contact our sales department or call 215-957-9112.