Cooling Performance of an Modified R744 Air Conditioning System with Vortex Tube and Internal Heat Exchanger for an Electric Vehicle
Thermal comfort in the vehicle cabin environment is an important factor for passengers of both internal combustion engines and electric vehicles. Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) is a critical system for electric vehicles (EVs) as it is the second most power consumer after electric motor. Novel solutions dedicated to EV, including thermoelectric air conditioning (AC) modules, vapor compression refrigeration (VCR), cycle positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater as well as heat pumps (HP), are being investigated to maintain a stable and comfortable interior environment under hot and cold weather conditions. At present, the mostly dominated automotive AC systems are those using R134a refrigerant characterized by high global warming potential. Therefore, an innovative and ecofriendly AC system design still must be developed to supply sufficient cooling or heating capacity while minimizing the influence of the AC system on driving ranges and environmental performance. A potential solution is represented by vortex tube-based AC systems. The vortex tube is a fluid dynamic device which is capable to separate an inlet compressed flow in two streams at hot and cold temperature, respectively. The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of the use of vortex tube integrated to the transcritical R744 (t-R744) AC system for an electric vehicle. Using a preliminary configuration of a vortex tube device developed for a commercially available mini-EV, the energy analysis of the system under various experimental conditions was performed and its performance parameters under steady state operation were evaluated. Specifically, the Coefficient Of Performance (COP) of the vortex tube transcritical R744 AC system and its influence on the driving range were assessed for different external weather conditions. Finally, this solution is compared with the basic transcritical R744 cycle and with its mostly used modification which considers an internal heat exchanger for the same working conditions of VCR.
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01487191
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Supplemental Notes:
- Abstract reprinted with permission of SAE International.
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Authors:
- Mendecka, Barbara Malgorzata
- Chiappini, Daniele
- Bella, Gino
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Conference:
- 15th International Conference on Engines & Vehicles
- Location: Capri Napoli, Italy
- Date: 2021-9-12 to 2021-9-16
- Publication Date: 2021-9-5
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Web
- Features: References;
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Serial:
- SAE Technical Paper
- Publisher: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
- ISSN: 0148-7191
- EISSN: 2688-3627
- Serial URL: http://papers.sae.org/
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Air conditioners; Cold weather; Electric vehicles; Heat exchangers; Internal combustion engines; Motors; Weather and climate
- Subject Areas: Highways; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01828940
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: SAE International
- Report/Paper Numbers: 2021-24-0098
- Files: TRIS, SAE
- Created Date: Dec 9 2021 10:38AM