Vehicle Cabin Cooling Assembly With Split Heat Exchanger Airflow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air-conditioning arrangements for vehicle interiors struggle to efficiently remove waste heat from cooling assemblies, leading to increased refrigeration capacity demands.
Innovation Solution
The air-conditioning arrangement spatially divides the heat exchanger into a hot-gas section and a low-temperature section, with the low-temperature section exposed to recirculated air and the hot-gas section exposed to outgoing air, optimizing heat removal and recirculation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a single heat exchanger is used for waste heat removal, then the structure is simple, but the heat removal efficiency is insufficient and refrigeration capacity demand increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is divided into two distinct sections: a hot-gas section exposed to outgoing air and a low-temperature section exposed to recirculated air. This segmentation allows each section to operate at its optimal temperature range, improving overall heat removal efficiency while maintaining manageable structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the heat exchanger are exposed to different air streams with different thermal characteristics. The hot-gas section handles high-temperature waste heat from the cooling assembly, while the low-temperature section handles cooler recirculated air, optimizing local heat transfer conditions in each region
2Loss of energy
If all interior air is used for heat removal, then the heat removal capacity is maximized, but the recirculated air temperature becomes too high requiring increased refrigeration capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The air stream is segmented into two components: recirculated air directed to the low-temperature section and outgoing air directed to the hot-gas section. This allows the recirculated air to absorb heat at lower temperatures without becoming excessively hot, while the outgoing air handles the bulk of the high-temperature waste heat removal
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the air flow are assigned different thermal functions. The recirculated air component is optimized for low-temperature heat absorption to maintain comfortable interior conditions, while the outgoing air component is optimized for high-temperature waste heat rejection
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration allows for efficient heat removal from the cooling assembly, reducing the refrigeration capacity required by the air-conditioning unit and improving overall system efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
for removing heat from a refrigerant of the refrigeration circuit, has a heat exchanger, which is exposed to the interior air
Implementation Method 2
the low-temperature section of the heat exchanger is exposed to the recirculated-air component of the interior air
Implementation Method 3
the hot-gas section of the heat exchanger is exposed to the outgoing-air component of the interior air
Data Source
AI summary
An air-conditioning arrangement for an interior of a vehicle, with an air-conditioning unit, for providing air-conditioned interior air, and a cooling assembly, which is arranged in the interior. The cooling assembly has a refrigeration circuit, which, for removing heat from a refrigerant of the refrigeration circuit, has a heat exchanger, which is exposed to the interior air. The heat exchanger is spatially divided into a hot-gas section and a low-temperature section. The interior air that is taken in for the heat removal by the heat exchanger is divided into an outgoing-air component and a recirculating-air component. The low-temperature section of the exchanger is exposed to the recirculating-air component of the interior air and the hot-gas section of the heat exchanger is exposed to the outgoing-air component of the interior air.