Chiller
The Chiller is a heat exchanger that removes heat from coolant/water mixture and transfers it to refrigerant by its evaporation.
Chiller structure is made by plates/inner fins brazed together. Plates create refrigerant/coolant channel that contains inner fins. High heat transfer surface with great compactness are provides by using optimized inner fins. In particular, DENSO Chiller inner fins can be micro-offset type or micro-louvered type.
To improve chiller efficiency, a special geometry is used to improve refrigerant distribution at inlet.
A counter-flow configuration is used to maximize heat transfer efficiency, plates number can be adjusted in order to satisfy customer requirements in terms of heat rejection and pressure drops. Expansion devices can be directly installed on IN/OUT connector.
Chiller can be used for battery cooling of hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle, or to produce cold coolant for cabin cooling for special applications.
Water Charge Air Cooler WCAC
The Charge Air Cooler (CAC) reduces the temperature of compressed air from the turbocharger before it enters the intake manifold.
The compressed air from the turbo becomes hot and it is piped to the CAC, where passing through the core, it is cooled down with minimum pressure loss to ensure system efficiency.
Inside the core, compressed air can be cooled by ambient air (ACAC) or liquid (WCAC). In the first case heat is released directly to the ambient, while in the second one the coolant (a water-glycol mixture) takes the heat and bring it to a radiator that release it to the ambient. Denso propose both ACAC and WCAC.
The structure of ACAC is made of a core with tubes and fins, a tank on each end of tubes conveys and collects compressed air to the core. Usual location of ACAC is in the front end module or in the wheelhouse.
The structure of WCAC is made using the following 2 different technologies: pipes/fins and plates/fins. The usual location of WCAC inside the intake manifold or as a stand-alone unit before the intake manifold on the engine.
Water Cooled Condenser (WCDS)
The Water Cooled Condenser (WCDS) is a heat exchanger that removes heat from refrigerant vapour by its condensation and transfers it to coolant/water mixture.
WCDS structure is made by plates/inner fins brazed together. Plates create refrigerant/coolant channel that contains inner fins. High heat transfer surface with great compactness are provides by using optimized inner fins. In particular, DENSO WCDS inner fins can be micro-offset type or micro-louvered type. Both fluids run inside the heat exchanger in counter-flow, plates number can be adjusted in order to satisfy customer requirements in terms of heat rejection and pressure drops.
WCDS can be used as main condenser (instead of traditional air-CDS): refrigerant side is integrated into A/C loop and coolant side is integrated into Low Temperature coolant loop to release heat absorbed from refrigerant to the ambient.
Since ICE vehicle will be gradually dismissed by electrification, the main usage for WCDS will be H/P (Heat Pump) system for EV.
In this system, in winter WCDS works to provide hot coolant for cabin heating, while in summer it might be a passive elements or work as main condenser of the air conditioning system.