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Hyundai-Kia Motor Company recently developed a multi-way, electrical coolant valve for engine thermal management module (TMM). The main purposes of the TMM are to boost fuel economy by accelerating engine warm-up and also to enhance engine thermal efficiency by actively controlling the operating temperature. In addition to those, the system can improve vehicle heating and cooling performance as well. The electrical coolant valve is a key component in the TMM as it modulates the amount of coolant flow to individual components in cooling system such as engine oil heat exchanger, heater core, and radiator. The coolant flow modulation is done by controlling the electric valve’s position with using an electric motor attached to the valve. The objective of the valve control is to manage coolant temperature at a desired level that varies depending on vehicle’s operating condition. This paper discusses the control algorithm developed for controlling electrical coolant valve.

A predictive control method for the cooling system of an engine is developed in order to improve fuel efficiency through the use of vehicle onboard GPS/Navigation system. Conventionally, in an internal combustion engine cooling system, coolant temperature is controlled from predefined maps or models depending on the engine speed, accelerator pedal position, engine torque, and/or fueling rate at that instant. Due to the instantaneous decisions taken to change target coolant temperature, road gradient changes in terrain could cause engine under-cooling on a steep uphill or over-cooling when driving downhill. The paper presents the concept of predictive coolant temperature control strategy, utilizing GPS/Navigation data to recognize driving conditions by sensing vehicle position, speed limit, and road information like elevation and grade.