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Comparative Test results between a prototype low pressure automotive air conditioning system using isoamylene as a non-fluorocarbon refrigerant and a control vehicle equipped with a well-developed production R-12 system are reported. The performance of the new system was favorable. The low pressure Rolling Vane compressor used in the test vehicle is described. The remaining system components, which were derived from existing technology and hardware, are briefly discussed. As well, a summary description of the design and analysis procedures for the individual components is presented.

The ROVAC air conditioning system, a new system that employs air as the refrigerant, is a combination rotary compressor/expander unit. A prototype has been modeled, designed, fabricated, laboratory tested, and field tested in a full size four door 1973 Dodge Coronet. The description of the new system, the analysis, design and actual test results are reported here. The objective of the engineering program was to demonstrate and prove the capability of the ROVAC system to effectively and efficiently air condition automobiles. The prototype system installed in the Dodge Coronet produces delivered cooling capacity on the order of one to one and a half tons per thousand rpm and has produced delivered coefficients of performance at relatively high humidity levels (150-180 grains water per pound of dry air) rivaling the best developed conventional vapor compression air conditioning systems.

The ROVAC unit is a rotary vane combination compressor-expander-circulator, which is the key element in a new air-cycle refrigeration system. Results of an analytical and experimental feasibility study of the system are reported here. The objective of the study was to develop and verify a mathematical model of the system, including heat-exchanger pressure loss and mechanical friction. A parametric study was made to determine the geometry for a unit capable of cooling a passenger car, and a conservatively designed prototype was built and tested. The prototype system produced a cooling capacity of 5400 Btu/h and generally verified the accuracy of the mathematical model. The coefficient of performance of the prototype system is somewhat lower than that of a typical vapor-cycle system.* However, the ROVAC system is much simpler and will most likely be cheaper to build.