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As a potential replacement to traditional automotive R134a direct expansion (DX) systems, a secondary-loop system allows for the usage of flammable but low-GWP refrigerants such as propane (R290). However, as the secondary-loop system has an additional layer of thermal resistance, the cycle's transient behavior and cabin thermal comfort during pull-down and various driving cycles may be different from traditional DX systems. This paper presents a Modelica-based model to simulate both steady-state and transient operation of automotive secondary-loop systems. The model includes a lumped cabin component and a secondary-loop automotive air-conditioning system component. The air-conditioning system component consists of a condenser, a compressor, an expansion device, a coolant plate type heat exchanger, a coolant to air heat exchanger and a coolant pump. The developed model was validated against both steady-state and transient experimental data for an R290 secondary-loop system.

In this paper, the application of the separate sensible and latent cooling (SSLC) technology to the mobile air conditioning (MAC) system was investigated. Conventional MAC systems utilize a low evaporating temperature to cool down the cabin air temperature and to remove moisture from humid air. In order to remove the moisture, the supply air temperature has to be below the dew point temperature of the cabin air. Therefore, a reheating process is necessary to increase the air temperature to an appropriate and comfortable level. However, energy is wasted in this reheating process, which results in the reduction of the fuel efficiency. Since the SSLC technology can provide an appropriate solution to these issues of conventional systems, it is proposed to apply the SSLC technology to the MAC system, which can eventually reduce the fuel consumption of the MAC system.

Due to the influence of energy use on electric vehicle range, latent energy storage options could be used to increase thermal comfort and decrease energy consumption during driving. This study focuses on the implications of thermal storage on transient performance of a typical secondary loop system and a combined secondary loop with ice storage system. The use of ice storage in assisting the vapor compression cycle during cabin pull-down and continued cooling, as well as cooling during compressor off periods was experimentally investigated. It was found that the ice storage system was able to decrease energy consumption during pull-down by about 20% and decrease time to comfort by about 15% compared to a regular secondary loop system.

The thermal comfort inside automotive cabin has been extensively studied for decades. Traditional CFD models provide accurate simulation results of the air temperature distributions inside cabins but at a relatively high computation cost. In order to reduce the computational cost while still providing reasonable accuracy in simulating the air temperature profile inside a mid-sized sedan cabin, this paper introduces a new simulation tool that utilizes a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method. The POD method, an interpolation technique, requires only one set of multiple CFD simulations to produce a set of “snapshots”. Later, any simulations that require CFD runs to solve algorithm equation sets can be simplified by using interpolation between the snapshots provided that the geometry of the cabin keeps the same. As a result, the computation time can be reduced to only a few minutes.

Automotive climate control systems are typically equipped with either an orifice tube or a thermostatic expansion valve. The two devices behave differently especially during cycling operation. The variable restriction of the thermostatic expansion valve delays the refrigerant migration when the clutch is disengaged and allows a faster redistribution when the clutch is engaged. The effect of cycling on the performance of two climate control systems, one with a short-tube orifice, and the other with a thermostatic expansion device, was investigated. The cycle period was varied from 10 seconds to 6 minutes. The test results show the change in moisture removal rate, latent capacity, sensible capacity, energy consumption, and coefficient of performance due to cycling. It is shown that the penalty in energy consumption due to cycling depends on the cycle period.

In measuring the dynamic behavior of automotive climate control systems, the vehicle is placed in a full-scale environmentally controlled wind tunnel. This conventional test method demands considerable effort and cost. To improve the shortcomings of the conventional method, a new technique that requires only the tested climate control system and a simplified facility is proposed. The technique consists of a control program, a numerical cabin model, a small size environmentally controlled closed air loop, its controller, and the climate control system. The cabin model is a transient set of linear ordinary differential equations, which account for the latent and sensible loads and the infiltration and ventilation loads. The solution is obtained numerically and the control program uses the model to predict the conditions of the air inside the cabin of the car and adjusts the set points of the controller of the air loop accordingly.

This paper presents the oil circulation behavior in a CO2 climate control system operating at low evaporating temperature down to -32°C. The increase of oil circulation ratio (OCR) from 0 to 6 wt.% during steady state conditions degrades the coefficient of performance and cooling capacity by 15% and 8%, respectively. The pressure drop across the heat exchangers increases, especially in the gas cooler. In low temperature CO2 systems some fluctuations of oil and refrigerant flow rates were observed during cyclic operations when the system did not equip the oil separator, but was observed only at high oil charge when the system did equip the oil separator. These instabilities lead to a periodic compressor performance fluctuation, which caused system performance degradations. Therefore, the use of an oil separator is recommended for the low temperature operation if an ordinary metering valve is adopted as an expansion device without any special control strategy.

This paper presents the effect of the oil circulation ratio on the system performance of a CO2 climate control system and the effect of an oil separator on the oil circulation behavior using a new oil circulation ratio measurement method. In this study, the oil circulation ratio of a CO2/PAG mixture at various system conditions was measured. When the oil circulation ratio increases from 0.5 wt.% to 7 wt.%, the coefficient of performance decreases by 8% and 11% for idling and driving conditions, respectively. Without the oil separator, the oil circulation ratio increases more than 10 wt.%; with the oil separator, it was maintained at below detection level and 1.1 wt.% for idling and driving conditions, respectively.