System and method for controlling coolant flow through a heater core of a vehicle based upon an estimated heater core air out temperature

A system comprising:

• a temperature estimation module configured to determine an estimate of a heater core air out temperature of a vehicle based upon a heater core inlet coolant temperature, a heater core outlet coolant temperature, an estimated volumetric air flowrate, and an estimated volumetric coolant flowrate,
• wherein the temperature estimation module is configured to estimate the heater core air out temperature using a least square estimation and is configured to estimate the heater core air out temperature based upon the heater core inlet coolant temperature, the heater core outlet coolant temperature, a volumetric coolant flowrate, and a volumetric air flowrate wherein the temperature estimation module is configured to estimate the heater core air out temperature according to α1{dot over (ν)}clnt+α2{dot over (ν)}air+α3TClnt,In+α4TClnt,Out+α5, where {dot over (ν)}clnt is a volumetric coolant flowrate, {dot over (ν)}air is the volumetric air flowrate, TClnt,In is the heater core inlet coolant temperature, TClnt,Out is the heater core outlet coolant temperature, and αi represents respective least square estimate coefficients;
• and
• a coolant flow control module configured to:
• control a rate at which coolant flows to a heater core of the vehicle by adjusting at least one of a position of a coolant control valve of the vehicle and an output of a coolant pump of the vehicle, and
• control the coolant flowrate to decrease a difference between a target heater core air out temperature and the estimated heater core air out temperature,
• wherein the target heater core air out temperature is determined based on blower speed and ambient temperature.