Charge-air cooler

An internal combustion engine comprising:

• a combustion chamber;
• an air pump configured to generate a flow of compressed air characterized by relatively high-temperature;
• a fluid pump configured to circulate a coolant characterized by relatively low-temperature through the engine for reducing temperature of the engine;
• and
• a charge-air cooler configured to receive the compressed relatively high-temperature air from the air pump, reduce the temperature of the compressed air by convection via the coolant, and supply the reduced temperature compressed air to the combustion chamber, the charge-air cooler including:
• a reticulated foam element configured to provide a plurality of nonlinear flow paths for the compressed air;
• a cooling passage element disposed one of proximate to and in direct contact with the reticulated foam element and configured to accept the coolant from the fluid pump;
• a header element having a first connection configured to accept inflow of the coolant to the cooling passage element and a second connection configured to facilitate outflow of the coolant from the cooling passage element to the engine;
• a casing configured to house the reticulated foam element, the cooling passage element, and the header element;
• and
• wherein each of the reticulated foam element and the cooling passage element is defined by a substantially circular outer surface and a hollow center;
• the charge-air cooler is characterized by a generally cylindrical outer shape having a hollow central column in a longitudinal direction of the charge-air cooler, and the reticulated foam element and the cooling passage element are stacked against one another in the longitudinal direction;
• and
• the first fluid enters the reticulated foam element from the circular outer surface and exits the reticulated foam element to the hollow center, and exits the charge-air cooler via the hollow central column.

A charge-air cooler comprising:

• a reticulated foam element configured to provide a plurality of nonlinear flow paths for a relatively high-temperature first fluid;
• a cooling passage element disposed one of proximate to and in direct contact with the reticulated foam element and configured to accept a relatively low-temperature second fluid;
• a header element having a first connection configured to accept inflow of the second fluid to the cooling passage element and a second connection configured to facilitate outflow of the second fluid from the cooling passage element;
• and
• a casing configured to house the reticulated foam element, the cooling passage element, and the header element;
• wherein:
• each of the reticulated foam element and the cooling passage element is defined by a substantially circular outer surface and a hollow center;
• the charge-air cooler is characterized by a generally cylindrical outer shape having a hollow central column in a longitudinal direction of the charge-air cooler, and the reticulated foam element and the cooling passage element are stacked against one another in the longitudinal direction;
• the first fluid enters the reticulated foam element from the circular outer surface and exits the reticulated foam element to the hollow center, and exits the charge-air cooler via the hollow central column;
• and
• wherein the reticulated foam element is constructed from aluminum and the cooling passage element is constructed from aluminum tubing.