Modine Cooling System for Hybrid Electric Bus Merits U.S. Patent.Business editors RACINE, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 25, 2001 When Orion Bus Industries For the spaceplane from , see . Orion Bus Industries (also known as Ontario Bus Industries) is a Mississauga, Ontario, Canada-based bus manufacturer established by the government of Ontario in 1975. developed its Orion VI hybrid electric transit bus, it faced a unique thermal-management challenge. Cooling was needed not only for a diesel engine but also for the electrical inverters used in the bus propulsion system. Modine Manufacturing Company's (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : MODI MODI Microsoft Office Document Imaging ) engineers discovered a way to solve this thermal-management problem by designing a single heat exchanger with dual circuits coupled with a common fan. The invention was unique enough to merit a patent -- United States patent number 6,124,644 was granted to Modine on Sept. 26, 2000, entitled, "Single Core Dual Circuit Heat Exchanger System." The patent was filed on Jan. 13, 1998. Inventors are Benjamin Gover, application engineer, and Gregg Olson, product and application engineering manager, both with Modine's Truck Division. "The cooling system is unique because a single fan is used to cool three separate circuits -- charge-air for the engine, coolant for engine, and coolant for the propulsion control system inverters," explained David Trevors, engineer, Orion Bus. "The system is also unique in that the engine coolant and inverter coolant operate at different temperatures. The maximum engine coolant temperature is 210oF while the maximum inverter coolant temperature is 155oF. Modine was helpful in brainstorming to help us come up with a solution, then implement that solution to a production level." The Orion VI hybrid electric transit bus is being used in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , Boston, and several cities in California There are 478 incorporated cities in California, 22 of which are styled "Town of (Name)" instead of "City of (Name)." They are arranged in alphabetical order, with the "towns" marked '*'. Under California law (see, e.g. . "They have performed so well in New York City that NYC NYC abbr. New York City NYC New York City Transit has since purchased 300 Orion VII hybrid buses, which utilize the same cooling system concept," Trevors said. Orion Bus Industries manufactures high-quality, custom-crafted heavy-duty transit buses that meet the diversified and demanding needs of the transit industry. Based in Mississauga, Ont., Canada, Orion provides transit buses to more than 230 North American cities and 20 European centers. Modine specializes in thermal management, bringing technology to diversified markets. Headquartered in Racine, Wis., Modine has annual sales of more than $1 billion and has 8,000 employees in 18 countries. Core markets include powertrain cooling of internal combustion engines, vehicular and building HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) In the home or small office with a handful of computers, HVAC is more for human comfort than the machines. In large datacenters, a humidity-free room with a steady, cool temperature is essential for the trouble-free (heating, ventilating ventilating Natural or mechanically induced movement of fresh air into or through an enclosed space. The hazards of poor ventilation were not clearly understood until the early 20th century. Expired air may be laden with odors, heat, gases, or dust. , air-conditioning), and various industrial and refrigeration markets. Modine is on the Internet at www.modine.com. |
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