Cooling arrangement and method for cooling an at least two-stage compressed air generator

An at least two-stage compressed air generator, comprising:

• a liquid-cooled intercooler for cooling precompressed air discharged from a first compressor stage;
• a liquid-cooled aftercooler for cooling air compressed by a second compressor stage;
• a liquid-cooled subassembly cooler for absorbing heat from the compressed air generator;
• wherein at least one of the liquid-cooled intercooler or the liquid-cooled aftercooler have a plurality of feed inlets, to which a coolant can be selectably fed from a coolant outlet of the subassembly cooler, and
• wherein the coolant outlet of the subassembly cooler is connected to at least one of a feed inlet of the liquid-cooled intercooler and a feed inlet of the liquid-cooled aftercooler, and wherein the feed inlet of the liquid-cooled intercooler is disposed between a coolant inlet of the liquid-cooled intercooler and a coolant outlet of the liquid-cooled intercooler at a point at which an intermediate temperature of the coolant in the liquid-cooled intercooler is within twenty percent (±20%) of an exit temperature of the coolant at the subassembly cooler, and wherein the feed inlet of the liquid-cooled aftercooler is disposed between a coolant inlet of the liquid-cooled aftercooler and a coolant outlet of the liquid-cooled aftercooler at a point at which an intermediate temperature of the coolant in the liquid-cooled aftercooler is within twenty percent (±20%) of the exit temperature of the coolant at the subassembly cooler.

An at least two-stage compressed air generator, comprising:

• a liquid-cooled intercooler for cooling precompressed air discharged from a first compressor stage;
• a liquid-cooled aftercooler for cooling air compressed by a second compressor stage;
• a liquid-cooled subassembly cooler for absorbing heat from the compressed air generator;
• wherein a coolant outlet of the subassembly cooler is directly connected to a feed inlet of the liquid-cooled intercooler and the coolant outlet of the subassembly cooler is directly connected to a feed inlet of the liquid-cooled aftercooler, and wherein the feed inlet of the liquid-cooled intercooler is disposed between a coolant inlet of the liquid-cooled intercooler and a coolant outlet of the liquid-cooled intercooler at a point at which an intermediate temperature of a coolant in the liquid-cooled intercooler is within twenty percent (±20%) of an exit temperature of the coolant at the subassembly cooler, and wherein the feed inlet of the liquid-cooled aftercooler is disposed between a coolant inlet of the liquid-cooled aftercooler and a coolant outlet of the liquid-cooled aftercooler at a point at which an intermediate temperature of the coolant in the liquid-cooled aftercooler is within twenty percent (±20%) of the exit temperature of the coolant at the subassembly cooler.