Experimental study on cooling performance characteristics of hybrid refrigeration system in a heavy duty vehicle

상용차 하이브리드 냉방시스템 냉방 성능 특성 연구

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the cooling performance characteristics of a hybrid refrigeration system in a heavy duty vehicle. The tested hybrid refrigeration system had additionally an electric compressor besides the present mechanical compressor for selective use according to the operating conditions. The applied electric compressor was a scroll type and with 18.0 cc displacement. In order to analyze the performance characteristics of the hybrid refrigeration system with respect to the cooling capacity and Coefficient of Performance (COP), other components, including two different types of compressors, were installed and tested under various operating conditions such as compressor speed and air flow rate of the evaporator. When the electric compressor was operated at 4,500 rev/min, the cooling capacity was about 4.0kW and COP was 3.5. When the mechanical compressor was operated, whereas the cooling capacity was higher than the electric controlled compressor, COP was lower due to the larger displacement and higher power consumption. To analyze the hybrid system operating characteristics due to reasonable cooling capacity with electric compressor operation, the mechanical compressor and electric compressor were operated by turns every 10 minutes under certain system operating conditions. Because surge pressure occurred when both compressors were switched on, the operating strategy required some time to balance the system pressure.

본 연구의 목적은 상용차 운행 시, 야간 및 운휴중에 냉방시스템을 운전하기 위하여서, 기계식과 전동식 압축기를 적용한 하이브리드 냉방시스템에 대한 냉방성능 특성을 분석하는 것이다. 기계식압축기는 170cc의 왕복동 형식이고, 전동식 압축기는 18cc 스크롤 형식이다. 전동식 압축기는 운휴시나 야간에 사용할 목적으로 적용되었기 때문에, 냉방용량은 기계식 압축기 대비 낮은 성능을 가지고 있다. 기계식 압축기를 사용하였을 경우, 6.0kW 수준의 냉방성능을 보이고 있고, 시스템 효율은 2.0이하의 결과를 가졌다. 반면, 전동식 압축기는 냉방성능 4.0kW수준, 시스템 효율은 3.5 수준을 가지고 있었다. 본 연구에서는 전동식 압축기는 냉방성능 4.0kW수준, 시스템 효율은 3.5 수준을 가지고 있었다. 기계식 압축기와 전동식 압축기를 운전조건에 따라서, 선택적으로 운전하는 것을 고려하였기 때문에, 운전모드가 바뀔 때의 시스템 특성을 분석하기 위하여서, 운전모드 변경에 대한 영향을 알아보았다. 운전모드가 변경될 때, 토출압력이 일시적으로 증가하는 경향을 보이는데, 안정적인 운전을 위하여서, 외기 부하 등을 고려한 운전모드 변경 로직에 대한 연구가 필요할 것으로 판단된다.

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the hybrid cooling system with electric-controlled compressor and mechanical compressor

Fig. 2. Efficiency of mechanical compressor

Fig. 3. Hybrid A/C system performance characteristics with the mechanical compressor (a) Variation of compressor speed @ 500 m³ hr^-1 (b) Variation of air flow rate @ 1,800 RPM

Fig. 4. Hybrid A/C system performance characteristics with scroll type electric compressor with variation of compressor speed

Fig. 5. Hybrid A/C system performance characteristics with scroll type electric compressor with variation of air flow rate

Fig. 6. Hybrid A/C system performance characteristics with scroll type electric compressor with variation of air inlet temperature

Fig. 7. Hybrid A/C system operating characteristics at compressor with high speed mode for each compressor

Table 1. Specification of tested system components

Table 2. Tested system test matrix

Table 3. Test equipment and uncertainty of the experimental parameters