Clean-in-Place Machine for Liquid-Cooled Engine

Abstract

The design, development, fabrication, and evaluation of Clean-in-Place Machine for Liquid-Cooled Engine (CIP machine), a type of clean-in-place technologies that was never in any form applied in automotive technology especially for engine cooling system. This is the researchers’ response to address the problem of small automotive shops regarding the unavailability of tools or machines used for holistic cleaning of engine cooling system. This machine can be made affordable for all automotive shop owners and also for technical education institutions. The development phase covered the technical feasibility of the prototype CIP machine. The descriptive-evaluative phase covered its evaluation by experts and end-users using the DOST Technology Assessment Protocol (TAP-TEEPS). This evaluation protocol includes assessment of technical and economic feasibility, environment soundness, political and social acceptability (TEEPS). Based on the trial conducted, it was found out that the CIP machine was able to clean the entire engine cooling system faster and better compared to the traditional manner of cleaning the engine cooling system, which is reflected in the high evaluation rating of the experts, hence, the CIP machine is recommended for use by automotive practitioners and based on the computed ROI of 1, 052 percent. The payback period is one month and two days; this means investing in the CIP machine is worth undertaking.

Keywords-automotive engine, CIP machine, clean-in-place, engine cooling system, radiator cleaning