Engine cooling system with temperature-controlled expansion chamber for maintaining a substantially anhydrous coolant

Abstract

In an engine cooling system, an upper coolant chamber and a lower coolant chamber of a typical engine, such as an internal combustion engine or fuel cell, are formed adjacent to the heat-emitting components of the engine, and a substantially anhydrous, boilable liquid coolant having a saturation temperature higher than that of water is received within the engine coolant chambers. A coolant expansion reservoir defining an expansion chamber is coupled in fluid communication between the engine coolant chambers and the engine's ambient atmosphere for receiving coolant from the engine coolant chambers and permitting coolant flow between the expansion chamber and engine coolant chambers with thermal expansion and contraction of the coolant. The expansion reservoir is mounted within a desorption environment formed within the vehicle's engine bay on the exhaust side of the radiator for heating the coolant within the expansion chamber to a temperature at or above a predetermined temperature during a substantial period of engine operation in order to vaporize substantially all water from the coolant and thereby maintain the coolant in a substantially anhydrous state.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.