• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.428-435
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• 2015

This paper presents the experimental study of cabin thermal comfort using a cold storage heat exchanger in a vehicle air-conditioning system. Recent vehicle-applied ISG functions for fuel economy and emission, but when vehicles stop, compressors in the air-conditioning system stop, and the cabin temperature sharply increases, making passengers feel thermal discomfort. This study conducts thermal comfort evaluation in the vehicle, which is applied to a cold storage system for the climate control wind tunnel test and the vehicle fleet road test with various airflow volume rates and ambient temperatures blowing to the cold storage heat exchanger. The experimental results, in the cold storage system, air discharge temperature is $3.1-4.2^{\circ}C$ lower than current air-conditioning system when the compressor stops and provides cold air for at least 38 extra seconds. In addition, the blowing airflow volume to the cold storage heat exchanger with various ambient temperature was examined for the control logic of the cold storage system, and in the results, the airflow volume rate is dominant over the outside temperature. For this study, a cold storage system is economically useful to keep the cabin at a thermally comfortable level during the short period when the engine stops in ISG vehicles.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2016

This study explores the feasibility of a cold storage system to provide thermal comfort for idle stop and go (ISG) vehicles. ISG function is the most valuable and environmental friendly technology in the current automobile industry. However, when an ISG vehicle stops, meaning when the engine standstill, the air-conditioning system does not work, because the compressor also stops. Therefore, passenger thermal comfort is not maintained, as cold air is not provided in the cabin. Consequently, many automakers have studied electric air-conditioning systems based on electrically-driven compressors or cold storage systems using phase-change materials. The experiments herein were conducted for the feasibility testing of different types of cold storage heat-exchangers, cold storage mediums, and thermo-expansion valves with current air-conditioners. The auxiliary cold storage system, filled with phase-change materials, was located behind the evaporator and almost stacked on top of it. In the experimental results, the air discharge temperature rate of increase was better than the conventional air-conditioning system when the compressor stopped and thermal comfort was maintained with $1.9{\sim}4.3^{\circ}C$ decreases within 60 seconds. The #1 cold storage heat-exchanger (CSH), #2 thermo-expansion valve (TXV) and #2 phase change material (PCM) were chosen because of the best temperature rise delay. It was concluded that a cold storage system is an effective solution for ISG vehicles to maintain thermal comfort during short engine stops.