Transient thermal model of passenger car's cabin and implementation to saturation cycle with alternative working fluids

A transient thermal model of a passenger car's cabin is developed to investigate the dynamic behavior of cabin thermal conditions. The model is developed based on a lumped-parameter model and solved using integral methods. Solar radiation, engine heat through the firewall, and engine heat to the air ducts are all considered. Using the thermal model, transient temperature profiles of the interior mass and cabin air are obtained. This model is used to investigate the transient behavior of the cabin under various operating conditions: the recirculation mode in the idling state, the fresh air mode in the idling state, the recirculation mode in the driving state, and fresh air mode in the driving state. The developed model is validated by comparing with experimental data and is within 5% of deviation. The validated model is then applied for evaluating the mobile air conditioning system's design. The study found that a saturation cycle concept (four-stage cycle with two-phase refrigerant injection) could improve the system efficiency by 23.9% and reduce the power consumption by 19.3%. Lastly, several alternative refrigerants are applied and their performance is discussed. When the saturation cycle concept is applied, R1234yf MAC (mobile air conditioning) shows the largest COP (coefficient of performance) improvement and power consumption reduction.

[1]  Tao Ye.  A Statistical Approach for Correlation/Validation of Hot-Soak Terminal Temperature of a Vehicle Cabin CFD Model , 2013 .

[2]  John P. Rugh,et al.  The Impact of Metal-free Solar Reflective Film on Vehicle Climate Control , 2001 .

[3]  Saeid Nahavandi,et al.  Intelligent energy management control of vehicle air conditioning via look-ahead system , 2011 .

[4]  Bárbara Torregrosa-Jaime,et al.  Transient thermal model of a vehicle's cabin validated under variable ambient conditions , 2015 .

[5]  Ronnen Levinson,et al.  Potential benefits of solar reflective car shells: Cooler cabins, fuel savings and emission reductions , 2011 .

[6]  Hoseong Lee,et al.  Performance investigation of multi-stage saturation cycle with natural working fluids and low GWP working fluids , 2015 .

[7]  José Guerra,et al.  The development and validation of a thermal model for the cabin of a vehicle , 2014 .

[8]  Miroslav Jicha,et al.  Virtual Testing Stand for evaluation of car cabin indoor environment , 2014, Adv. Eng. Softw..

[9]  Sepehr Sanaye,et al.  THERMAL MODELING FOR PREDICATION OF AUTOMOBILE CABIN AIR TEMPERATURE , 2011 .

[10]  Jemal H. Abawajy,et al.  Intelligent energy management control of vehicle air conditioning system coupled with engine , 2012 .

[11]  Reinhard Radermacher,et al.  A New Computational Tool for Automotive Cabin Air Temperature Simulation , 2013 .

[12]  Saeid Nahavandi,et al.  Coordinated energy management of vehicle air conditioning system , 2011 .

[13]  Amir Fartaj,et al.  Temperature control of a cabin in an automobile using thermal modeling and fuzzy controller , 2012 .

[14]  Amr El-Sayed Alaa El-Din Gado.  DEVELOPMENT OF A DYNAMIC TEST FACILITY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEMS , 2006 .

[15]  Reinhard Radermacher,et al.  Potential benefits of saturation cycle with two-phase refrigerant injection , 2013 .

[16]  M. J. Moran,et al.  Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics , 2014 .

[17]  K. Jha,et al.  A Simple Model for Calculating Vehicle Thermal Loads , 2013 .

[18]  Hamid Khayyam,et al.  Adaptive intelligent control of vehicle air conditioning system , 2013 .