Bar-Plate Liquid-Cooled Charge-Air Coolers
Highly efficient and extremely durable, the bar and plate design for liquid cooled charge-air coolers (LCACs) provides large surface areas for superior heat dispersion.
LCACs were developed to help enable diesel engine manufacturers to meet stringent emissions regulations and to improve fuel economy.
Typically used as an aftercooler downstream from a turbocharger, the LCAC cools the hot charge air to increase the intake’s air density before entering the engine. With the introduction of series turbocharging, intercooling is also necessary to reduce the charge-air temperatures prior to being directed to the second compressor, allowing vehicle OEMs the flexibility to use lower cost materials for their second compressor.
LCACs are also an alternative to an air-to-air charge-air cooler where the LCAC is used in conjunction with a low-temperature coolant circuit to reduce the charge-air’s temperature prior to the intake manifold. Since the low-temperature radiator has a large front surface that’s swept by a cold air flow, very low charge air temperatures can be achieved. The superior efficiency of LCACs (compared to a charge-air/air cooler) permits compact designs that can be mounted onto the engine.
LCACs provide more stable charge-air temperatures to help reduce fuel consumption in transient driving conditions.
Features and Benefits
- Available in a variety of configurations and materials, LCACs can easily be designed to address mixed gas (exhaust gas and charge-air) applications.
- LCACs can be designed for integration into intake manifolds for optimized performance and packaging.
We continue to build on our advantage of bar-plate liquid-cooled charge-air cooler innovations to provide customers with LCACs that meet their engine air-charge needs.
