Analysis and Optimization of Coupled Thermal Management Systems Used in Vehicles

Gequn Shu, Chen Hu, Hua Tian, Xiaoya Li, Zhigang Yu and Mingtao Wang
Additional contact information
Gequn Shu: State Key Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Chen Hu: State Key Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Hua Tian: State Key Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Xiaoya Li: State Key Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Zhigang Yu: State Key Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Mingtao Wang: State Key Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: About 2/3 of the combustion energy of internal combustion engine (ICE) is lost through the exhaust and cooling systems during its operation. Besides, automobile accessories like the air conditioning system and the radiator fan will bring additional power consumption. To improve the ICE efficiency, this paper designs some coupled thermal management systems with different structures which include the air conditioning subsystem, the waste heat recovery subsystem, engine and coolant subsystem. CO 2 is chosen as the working fluid for both the air conditioning subsystem and the waste heat recovery subsystem. After conducting experimental studies and a performance analysis for the subsystems, the coupled thermal management system is evaluated at different environmental temperatures and engine working conditions to choose the best structure. The optimal pump speed increases with the increase of environmental temperature and the decrease of engine load. The optimal coolant utilization rate decreases with the increase of engine load and environmental temperature, and the value is between 38% and 52%. While considering the effect of environmental temperature and road conditions of real driving and the energy consumption of all accessories of the thermal management system, the optimal thermal management system provides a net power of 4.2 kW, improving the ICE fuel economy by 1.2%.

Keywords: coupled thermal management system; optimization; carbon dioxide; waste heat recovery; model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/7/1265/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/7/1265/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:7:p:1265-:d:219201

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().