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US 10,371,088 B2Granted
Heat exchanger for a rankine cycle in a vehicle muffler
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorShiguang Zhou
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle is provided with an engine having an exhaust gas system comprising a muffler body containing a valve controlling exhaust gas flow through a tuning tube. The vehicle has an expander, a condenser, a pump, and an evaporator in sequential fluid communication in a closed loop containing a working fluid. The evaporator is positioned within the body and supports the valve and tuning tube therein, with the evaporator in thermal contact with exhaust gas and the working fluid.
Claims18
A vehicle comprising:
- an engine having an exhaust gas system comprising a muffler body containing a valve controlling exhaust gas flow through a tuning tube;
- an expander, a condenser, a pump, and an evaporator in sequential fluid communication in a closed loop containing a working fluid;
- and
- a controller in communication with the valve, a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the working fluid, and a pressure sensor for sensing a pressure of the working fluid, the controller controlling a position of the valve to control exhaust gas flow through the evaporator in response to receiving a first signal indicative of the temperature of the working fluid and a second signal indicative of the pressure of the working fluid;
- wherein the evaporator is positioned within the body and supports the valve and tuning tube therein, the evaporator in thermal contact with exhaust gas and the working fluid.
2 more elements
A vehicle muffler comprising:
- a housing having an exhaust gas inlet and an exhaust gas outlet;
- a tuning tube positioned within the housing and having an upstream end and a downstream end supporting a valve thereacross to control exhaust gas flow through the tuning tube, the upstream and downstream ends spaced apart and inset from the exhaust gas inlet and the exhaust gas outlet of the housing;
- and
- a Rankine cycle conduit having a working fluid flowing therethrough, the conduit positioned within the housing, supporting the tuning tube, and in thermal contact with exhaust gases and the working fluid thereby providing an evaporator for the Rankine cycle.
1 more element
A method of controlling a vehicle comprising:
- heating a working fluid in a heat exchanger in a thermodynamic cycle, the heat exchanger positioned within a muffler to support a tuning tube therein and in thermal contact with engine exhaust gases;
- and
- in response to receiving signals indicative of a temperature and a pressure of the working fluid, controlling a position of a valve associated with the tuning tube to control exhaust gas flow therethrough.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.