Evaporative Cooling Comfort in small Cabin Space vehicles

S. K. Kushwaha1, Dr. A.C. Tiwari2

1
PhD Scholar, 2 Professor, 1&2Department of Mechanical Engineering, University Institute of
Technology, Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, Bhopal 462036, INDIA

*Corresponding author email: shivakumar_kushwaha@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an innovative application of evaporative cooling to provide thermal

comfort in the cabin of slow and medium speed vehicles. Conventionally vapor compression
refrigeration systems are used for air conditioning in automobiles which account for significant
fuel/energy consumption under high cooling loads. Additionally, use of CFC based refrigerants imposes
threat for global warming. Application of Evaporative cooling in residential applications had
significantly reduced these drawbacks, and similar results are anticipated if adopted for mobile
applications. The proposed design for automobile application is cheaper and highly suitable for a wide
range of regions of the world having arid and semi-arid climate. The prototype performance lowered
cabin temperature close to acceptable limit with less than 10% of energy consumption compared to
vapor compression units when tested under similar hot dry conditions. The unit is very useful in arid
climate suitable for small cabin vehicles like trucks, trailers, earthmovers, dumpers etc.

KEY WORDS: Automotive air conditioning, Evaporative cooling, Cabin cooler, Vehicle cabin cooler

1. Development of automotive air-conditioning systems

Evolution of automotive air conditioning was a remarkable milestone in the history of

mankind. It has played an important role in human comfort and to some extent in human
safety during vehicle driving in varied atmospheric conditions. In1884 William Whitely
suggested placing blocks of ice in trays under horse-drawn carriages and blowing air
inside by attaching a fan to the axle [1]. In 1930, C & C Kelvinator designed a Cadillac
owned by John Hamman Jr. of Houston, Texas with 0.37 kW Kelvinator refrigeration
unit powered by a 1.1 kW gasoline engine. In 1954–55 Nash-Kelvinator introduced
automobile air-conditioning for the mass market. It was the first A/C unit that was
compact and affordable with controls on the dash and an electric clutch.

Later following developments were observed in succeeding years [2]:

1) In 1955, GM (General Motors) developed the first front mounted A/C and heating
unit.
 2) The popularity of auto A/C increased significantly and the number of installed
A/C systems on the vehicle tripled from 1961 to 1964. General Motors crossed
the five million A/C unit production mark in 1965.

3) Cycling clutch orifice tube (CCOT) was developed in 1973, that resulted in the
compressor off for 1/3 of the time rather than continuously running, thus
improving fuel economy.

4) Due to adoption of Montreal Protocol by United Nations in September 1987 the

first major revolution in the A/C system occurred by replacement of R-12 to R-
134a to eliminate the ozone depletion in stratosphere by introducing a refrigerant
having chlorine replaced by fluorine in its composition.

5) Although the global warming potential of R134a was significantly lower than
R12, 1300 vs 7800, it is still a substantial element for global warming. Europe has
published F-gas final regulation to phase out R-134a from mobile A/C during
2011-2017. US California Air Resources Board Climate Change proposed
regulation to phase out R134a from heavy equipment starting 2010 and from cars
starting 2017.

6) Worldwide the research is being focused to develop alternative refrigerants which

can withstand standards of environmental acceptability, performance and safety.
Some examples are CO2 and R152a. Parallel research is on progress to develop
air conditioning systems which can contribute to considerable fuel savings in
addition to environmental acceptability.

2. Literature review

Vapor compression systems in automobile air conditioning had conventionally used

refrigerants like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that contributed to depletion of Earth's
ozone layer and to global warming as discussed above. HFCs were substituted with
comparatively low GWP however they are not meeting strict emission norms worldwide
and their phase out plan is on progress. Researchers have identified low-GWP
refrigerants like hydrocarbons, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and hydrofluoroolefins
(HFOs) as possible alternatives to the HFCs. Nevertheless, many of these alternative
refrigerants potentially trade a GWP advantage for disadvantages related to toxicity,
flammability, lower efficiency, and/or increased equipment cost [3]. Apart from these
disadvantages, vapor compression systems contribute to substantial energy consumption.
For example, U.S. alone consumes about 7 billion gallons of fuel a year for AC systems
of light-duty vehicles [4].

Evaporative cooling technology is mechanically and operationally simpler, because it

does not require a compressor or a refrigerant. It can turn out to be one of the feasible
alternatives to this problem and can address the major cooling needs in the world. There
are mainly two categories of Evaporative air conditioners i.e. direct and indirect [5]. In
direct evaporative air conditioners the outside air is drawn through wetted filter pads,
where the hot dry air is cooled and humidified through water evaporation. The
evaporation of water takes some heat away from the air making it cooler and more
humid. The dry-bulb temperature of the air leaving the wetted pads approaches the wet-
bulb temperature of the ambient air. Direct evaporative air conditioners are more
effective in dry climates. The cool/humid air is used once and cannot be reused.
Evaporation (saturation) effectiveness is the key factor in determining the performance
of evaporative air conditioners [6]. This determines how close the air being conditioned
is to the state of saturation. Usually, the effectiveness is in the range of 75-95%.

The supply air stream is cooled without increasing its moisture content in an
indirect evaporative cooler. This is achieved by evaporative cooling an auxiliary
source of air and passing it through the exhaust side of a heat exchanger while
simultaneously passing the primary air stream through the opposite or supply side
of the heat exchanger.

In the early 1980s, it was demonstrated that evaporative cooling could be applied
to the cooling of buses in relatively dry climate areas with a significant (80%)
reduction in power consumption. The feasibility of applying the concepts of desiccant-
assisted evaporative cooling techniques to air conditioning of transit buses was
evaluated earlier [7]. These systems has major drawback of increasing weight and
complexity due to integration with desiccant systems which prohibited them in real
world application.

Evaporative air-conditioning (EAC) is an environmentally friendly and energy efficient

cooling method that only uses water as the working fluid. It offers superior indoor air
quality over vapor-compression systems because 100% outdoor air is used. The
replacement of vapor-compression systems by EAC units helps in reducing global CO2,
CFC, and other greenhouse gas emissions. Worldwide EAC residential units directly
obviate at least 118 million pounds of HCFC-22. They save approximately 60 million
barrels of oil annually and 27 billion pounds of annual CO2 emissions in lieu of using
vapor-compression air-conditioning systems. Commercial and industrial applications of
EAC are also on a similar order of magnitude.

Though reasonable research and scientific data is available for evaporative cooling in
residential applications, the same is extremely rare for vehicular applications. In spite of
scarce research /guidelines or standards available worldwide for vehicular evaporative
air conditioning, this paper aims to evaluate the feasibility of applying the concept to air
conditioning of cars and automobiles having similar limited cabin spaces. An innovative
approach has been adopted for carrying out experimental investigations on the concerned
subject. The main objective is to provide a simple, non -bulky, reliable, low cost, energy
efficient system for the purpose.

3. Selection of Technology

While vapor-compression technologies have served heating, ventilation, and air-

conditioning (HVAC) needs very effectively, and have been the dominant HVAC
technology for close to 100 years, the conventional refrigerants used in vapor-
compression equipment contribute to global climate change when released to the
atmosphere.

Researchers identified 17 non vapor compression technologies suitable for application in

air conditioning. To identify the most promising potential technologies apart from vapor
compression system among these, a scorecard analysis was performed [3] to evaluate
each technology option based on the criteria of technical energy savings potential, non-
energy benefits, and cost/complexity. Each criterion was assigned a weighting factor to
reflect its overall importance, and ranking of each technology options was carried out in
the list by their final scores. Evaporative Cooling scores 3.3 over 5 scale and ranks 6th in
the group.

The main objective of this research is to provide a cheap and simpler means of
automotive comfort which is based on proven technology and can be in the reach of
common man, hence evaporative cooling was opted.

Systems based on this technology are ideally suited to the arid and semi-arid climates.
When properly installed and maintained, evaporative coolers use about one-fourth (or
less) the electricity of conventional central air conditioners and cost about one-third to
operate. Recent advances in evaporative cooling technology have improved the energy
efficiency and performance of evaporative cooling systems, which are now available for
residential, commercial and industrial applications [8].

4. Selection of Vehicle for experimental study

The aim of this research is to provide comfort cooling for small cabin size vehicles and
targeted class of automobiles are trucks, dumpers, trailers, earthmovers, mini trucks,
mini vans etc. In order to assess the performance of the concerned cooling system on the
vehicles it was essential to choose particular type of vehicle which can provide
opportunity to test the system at varying parameters. Among these, two most important
ones are appropriate cabin size and flexibility to test the system at varying speeds

For this purpose a small 4-seater car (Maruti Suzuki 800, engine power 35 bhp) was
chosen for the purpose which had speed limit up to 140kmph. Most of the commercial
vehicles like trucks, dumpers, trailers, mini trucks etc. have seating capacity ranging
from 2 to 4 having cabin space in this range. Therefore, the small car cabin was selected
for experimental testing which had the cabin space close to the targeted class of vehicles.

5. Cooling load

Under the steady-state conditions, the cooling load (without sensible and latent heat of
occupants) for a closed vehicle cabin in hot environment, consists of the following [9]:

• solar radiation transmission through transparent or translucent surfaces

• heat transfer through the cabin roof due to solar radiation

• heat gain through the cabin envelope due to the temperature difference between interior
and ambient

• driver and passengers sensible and latent heat .

• heat gain contribution by the power train

Pressurization of the vehicle cabin due to blower operation eliminates heat load by
infiltration. The heat removal by the air conditioning should be equal to the heat gain for
maintaining interior temperature.
Size of the cabin and on its orientation in relation to the sun are significant contributing
factors of total thermal load of the cabin under moderate summer conditions. Driver and
passengers can be affected mostly by the heat gain and direct influence of the solar
radiation when largest side of the cab is faced to the sun. Peak climate thermal auxiliary
loads put a significant load on a vehicle’s system. The AC load of a 1200-kg sedan,
under peak conditions, can amount to 6 kW [10]. Based on performance curve of a
typical automotive air conditioner [11] the approximate compressor power consumption
for this load is 3.5kW.

Regardless of the type of vehicle, the air-conditioning systems present the highest
power consumption of the auxiliary components. For mid size cars mobile air-
conditioning (MAC) in conventional vehicles can increase the fuel consumption in up to
20% in a standard urban driving cycle in summer [12].

6. Design Considerations

The main design factors to be given due weight-age while designing the system are:

6.1 Applicability of evaporative cooling systems:

Evaporative cooling systems are ideal in hot and dry places, i.e., in places where the dry
bulb temperature is high and the coincident wet bulb temperature is low. However, there
are no clear-cut rules as to where these systems can be used. Evaporative cooling can
provide some measure of comfort in any location. However, in many locations where the
humidity levels are very high, stand-alone evaporative cooling systems cannot be used
for providing thermal comfort especially in residences, office buildings etc. One of the
older rules-of-thumb used in USA specifies that evaporative cooling systems can be used
wherever the average noon relative humidity during July is less than 40%. However,
experience shows that evaporative coolers can be used even in locations where the
relative humidity is higher than 40%. A more recent guideline suggests that evaporative
cooling can be used in locations where the summer design wet bulb temperatures are less
than about 24º C (75ºF). It is generally observed that evaporative coolers can compete
with conventional systems when the noon relative humidity during July is less than 40%,
hence should definitely be considered as a viable alternative, whereas these systems can
be used in places where the noon relative humidity is higher than 40% but the design
WBT is lower than 24ºC, with a some sacrifice of comfort. It should be mentioned that
both these guidelines have been developed for direct evaporative cooling systems. [6]
6.2 Interior design Conditions

Thermal comfort is the ultimate goal of HVAC systems for vehicles. However,
assessment of the thermal comfort in a vehicle is very complex due to fast transient
behaviors of the cool-down process, and the highly non-homogeneous thermal
environments associated with non-uniform air velocity and temperature distribution,
localized solar flux, and radiation heat load from the windshield and instrument panels.

Thermal comfort in vehicles represents a subjective sensation of heat balance that occurs
in the human body when environmental parameters - air temperature, air humidity,
radiant temperature, air velocity, human level activity and clothing insulation -are in a
range of well-defined values [13]. Thermal comfort is defined as “that condition of mind
which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment”[14]. Main factors for
thermal comfort are the dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, surrounding surface
temperature and air motion. Among these, the dry bulb temperature affects heat transfer
by convection and evaporation, the relative humidity affects heat loss by evaporation, air
velocity influences both convective and evaporative heat transfer and the surrounding
surface temperature affects the radiative heat transfer. However, humidity fluctuations
play a minor effect if the values are in the range of 30% to 70% [13].

ASHRAE comfort zone [14] recommends interior temperatures of air conditioned space
between 22ºC-28ºC with humidity ratio not greater than 0.012. Elevated air speed may
be used to offset an increase in the air temperature and the mean radiant temperature, but
not by more than 3.0°C above the values for the comfort zone. The required air speed
may not be higher than 0.8 m/s.

6.3 Local air velocities around a human body in vehicle cabin

Air flow sensation is subjective and varies according to the person’s sensitivity (some
parts of the body are more sensitive, e.g. nape). The appearance of air currents is mostly
due to the un-tight environment and to the air flow of the air conditioning system. The
air flow coming through an open window increases the air velocities and the thermal
discomfort as well. Inside the vehicle, the air flow can only be directed to smaller
sections because of a reduced volume (as opposed to buildings). The heated air should
be directed toward the bottom half of the occupant’s body and the cool air should be
directed toward the upper half [15].
Other very important parameters for thermal sensation and the sensation of air quality
are characteristics of the air in the operator's breathing zone. The breathing zone is a
semispherical space around the mouth and the nose. In terms of perceived air quality,
still air in the breathing zone is not acceptable in a warm ambient, even when overall
comfort is achieved. The temperature of the localized air in the breathing zone should be
equal or 3 - 4°C lower than the interior air temperature [13]. ASHRAE Standard 55
prescribes 3ºC for the vertical air temperature difference between head and ankle level
[14].

6.4 Climatic Conditions

A detailed study of world climatic zones estimated that more than 30% of the world land
area is suitable for evaporative cooling application [5].

Due to global warming the world climate is changing [16]. The arid regions are now
experiencing temperatures beyond 45ºC in summer. The soak temperature for a period of
1 hr in a typical car cabin reaches beyond 60 ºC under such ambient conditions [17].
Driving in such conditions becomes unbearable. Additionally, the rise in temperatures
increases the risk of heat stroke when body loses it’s ability to sweat and therefore
unable to cool down. Such situation can lead to medical emergency if not treated within
time.

7. System Prototype

The evaporative cooling unit was installed on the roof of the vehicle cabin. The unit
height was taken equal to the typical height of a luggage carrier commonly used in taxi
cars fixed on their roofs. Table below gives details of the unit fabrication.

Table 1: Fabrication Details

Unit Dimensions Remark

Evaporative Unit 0.56x0.50x0.25m3

Total Pad area 0.376m2 Aspen wood 2” pad

Fan diameter, Area (A) 0.3m, 0.0706m2 Circular hole is provided

on the roof for blowing fan
air in the cabin

Evaporative cooling Unit 12.1 kg Excluding water tank

weight

Water tank capacity 15 L

The developed unit consists of hollow box type structure [18]. The cooling pads were
fitted at all four vertical faces. The bottom face was kept open while top face is covered
permanently. The prototype unit was mounted on the roof of the vehicle cabin. The roof
has a circular hole for blowing air in the cabin from the unit. The fan unit is installed in
the bottom face for this purpose. The fan unit axially blows air on top of the driver head
and around the periphery of the body. The ambient air passes through the wetted pads
when the fan turns on. It gets evaporatively cooled and is blown into the cabin space by
the axial fan. The main pump discharges water to the cooling pads through a delivery
pipe which is further connected to the pipe distribution circuit.

This circuit comprises of four horizontal pipes connected in series with end plug at end.
Arrangement is made such that each pipe is fixed on top of each cooling pad. The water
coming from the pump falls on top of each cooling pads through multiple small holes
oriented vertically. The water trickles vertically down from the cooling pads and gets
accumulated in a U-shape channel. It goes to the sump through the drain pipe by gravity.

The main pump re-circulates the sump tank water for regular wetting of the cooling
pads. The water level in the sump is maintained by filling additional water periodically.
The cooled air is blown into the cabin space where it provides comfort to the occupants.
The energy consumption in comparison to conventional vapor compression systems is
much smaller and hence can be operated using the vehicle battery power.

The above mentioned design has major drawback that the effective wetting of pads was
gradual and took about five minutes for the process. Meanwhile in this transient phase
the passenger was subjected to dry hot ambient air initially which goes on cooler
gradually. This was inconvenient phase for the user. This drawback can be overcome by
a pad flush system. This system has an additional high capacity pump (with proper filter
at inlet) which sprays water through spraying nozzle on the pads directly. The nozzles
are placed at the centre position of the pad with sufficient distance from the pad such that
when the conical spray swirl occurs it wets pad from top to bottom within seconds. After
initial operation of few seconds this pump is turned off and conventional pump starts
functioning. The additional pump is meant to operate for very short duration as it is of
high power rating and hence continuous functioning is not justified. These nozzles have
sufficient wide holes such that minor clogging will not effect the functioning.

Fig.1 depicts the schematic working of the unit and Fig. 2 shows the position of the
system on cabin roof.

Fig: 1 Schematic of the evaporative cooling system for vehicle cabin

8. Testing

The pull down test is conventionally used for testing the performance of the automotive
vapor compression air conditioning units installed on vehicles. Pull-down time is
defined as the time required for the cabin temperature to reach the comfort
temperature within 1 K [9]. ASHRAE Standard is available which provides testing
guidelines for evaporative cooling residential units, however no standard is available for
testing such units on automobiles. Therefore in absence of this fact, a test similar to that
used for automotive air conditioning is being executed for comparative performance.

The experiment was carried out at Sagar (23.5 Lat., 77.7 Long.), India on 22nd May in
the month of summer 2015. The ambient was clear, dry and sunny. To soak the vehicle
in sun it was faced south to maximize sun exposure with soak temperatures recorded to
capture peak sun intensity from about noon to 2 p.m. The ambient was recorded at 45˚C.
The cabin interior temperature rose 13˚C above ambient within one hour soak period.
After soaking, the evaporative unit was started with maximum fan speed. The cabin was
having single driver occupancy with engine running in idle condition and vehicle was at
rest. The occupant sensible heat release and heat transfer from engine power train can
contribute up to 15% of the cooling load [19]. The observations were recorded
periodically till steady state was achieved (Fig. 3).

(a)
(b)

Fig 2: Evaporative Cooling Unit Mounted on different Vehicles

(a) Unit mounted on truck (b) Unit mounted on experimental vehicle

The temperature was recorded inside the vehicle cabin at three different locations on
each seat i.e. at foot, knee and head level. The readings of all four seats were averaged to
obtain the average cabin temperature.

9. Results

The evaporative cooling system reduced temperature from 58ºC to 33ºC inside car cabin
in 15 minutes duration with 3.88 L/hr of water consumption and 130W of total energy
consumption. The energy for the unit was drawn from the battery which in turn was
charged by an alternator.

Table 2: Summary of Measurements

Unit Quantity Remark

Water pump Power 10W

Axial Fan Power 120W

Ambient temperature and 45ºC and 20%

RH

Temperature at fan exit and 29ºC and 70%

RH

Average stable temperature 33ºC and 67%

inside cabin and RH

Average air velocity from 2.5m/s

the fan at exit (v)

Air flow rate (Vair) 175L/s Measured at fan exit. The

pressure did not deviate
significantly from the
ambient value.

Water Consumption (Mw) 3.88 kg/hr

Appendix I

Saturation Effectiveness* 76%

Cabin cooling load 2.6 kW

(* Saturation Effectiveness is defined as the ratio of difference between the entering and
exit dry−bulb temperatures of air to the wet−bulb depression)

The transient performance of the evaporative unit is recorded. Additionally in order to

compare the performance of this system with conventional car air conditioned unit a
similar parallel test was conducted on the similar air conditioned car of same model and
make in same ambient conditions as those for earlier car with a driver in the car cabin.
The readings were recorded by the same research team. The engine speed was at idle
condition with blower speed at maximum. The observations are plotted in parallel in
figure 3.
 70

60
Cabin Temperature (ºC)

50

40
Evaporative System
30 Cooling

20 Maruti Suzuki 800 AC

10

0
1 5 10 15 20 25
Time (min)

Fig 3: Comparative performance of Evaporative Air conditioning and conventional

automotive air conditioner of Car (Maruti Suzuki 800)

It can be observed from both the comparative performance test that the evaporative
cooling system performed in similar manner to that of conventional automotive air
conditioner. However the cooling temperature drop is slightly better in conventional
vapor compression system.

Evaporative cooling unit has limitation in lowering the cabin temperature which is the
function of wet bulb depression. The difference between initial cabin temperature and
final cabin temperature is not uniform for various ambient conditions. High humidity is
the detrimental factor in the performance of evaporative cooling. But this phenomenon
can be observed clearly with vapor compression systems which tend to reduce the cabin
temperature irrespective of wet bulb depression available. However, it can be noticed
that the performance follows a similar trend and tends to reach towards comfort zone
temperature. Figure 4 represents thermodynamic states of the air in the evaporative
cooling process on psychrometric chart.

9.1 Testing in Running Conditions

In order to assess the performance of the system during running conditions, the system
was tested at various speeds on a particular day of summer 13th June 2015 having clear
sky sun and maximum ambient temperature 44ºC in the same geographical location as
mentioned above. (Experimental location: National Highway NH86 Extension, Sagar,
INDIA 23.8ºN Lat.,78.7ºE Long.)

A significant phenomenon was observed at speed beyond 40kmph. The air velocities at
front seats decreased considerably and those at rear seats increased which caused
noticeable discomfort among the passengers (Fig.5). This uneven air distribution
occurred due to occurrence of low back pressure by boundary layer formation at the back
face of the cooler [20].

(i=inlet ambient air, o'=air at fan exit, o= air in the cabin)

Fig: 4 Representation of the cooling process on the Psychometric chart (states indicated
as per data in Fig 3)

Another important observation was made that the consumption of water increased almost
linearly with increase in speed in comparison to stationary vehicle. Researchers had
conducted experiments to study the effect of air velocity/wind speed on the rate of
evaporation and established a linear relationship. The wind speed increases evaporation
rate linearly. However, such experiments are limited to lower velocity range of 0-2m/s
applicable in evaporative coolers [21]. The research data for wind speeds like 16m/s
resembling the vehicle speed of 60km/hr is very scarce. In the present research the
testing was conducted in the speed range of 0-80 km/hr (or 0-22.2m/s).

5
Air distribution velocity m/s

4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
Front Seats
1.5
1 Rear Seats
0.5
0
0 15 30 45 60 75
Vehicle Speed km/hr

Fig.5 Effect of speed on the air velocity distribution inside cabin (Velocity measured at
passenger head level)

Since external sides of all pads are exposed to ambient air, at high speed excess water
evaporation takes place from them and thereby significant amount of water and thereby
evaporative cooling effect is lost in the ambient. These observations were the major
drawback of the system and limited the use of this system to only low speed vehicles like
earthmoving machinery and trailers.

To overcome this disadvantage, a cover plate having triangular cross section was
introduced which covered the three sides of cooling pads excluding the front one. This
plate was fastened such that a triangular cross section channel was formed throughout
it’s length with base lying at bottom level of the pad and tapered portion towards the top
level. (In the right angle triangular cross section, the base and hypotenuse was formed by
the cover plate and the altitude was formed by the pad height). The tapering has
additional advantage that it reduces the transverse wind air resistance on the body of the
cooler therefore reducing vehicle instability while in motion. When vehicle moves, the
ambient incoming air at vehicle speed enters the channel from both sides and tends to
stagnate in the channel thereby increasing the pressure (ram effect) within the channel.
(Fig. 6). This arrangement rectifies the problem of uneven air velocities in the cabin as
mentioned earlier. Also this had additional advantage that it isolates the pads on three
sides from exposure to direct ambient air, hence excess evaporation water loss is reduced
considerably (Fig.7).

Fig. 6 Tapered plate for stagnating high speed incoming air

The front pad is exposed to direct ambient, therefore when vehicle runs at high speed the
incoming ambient air stagnates on the front face thereby producing the same effect as in
the channel. When vehicle is stationary, the ambient air passes through the channel inlets
and gets distributed on three pads without ram effect.

This modification has another major advantage that the air velocities inside the cabin
thereby mass flow rate of air increases at higher speeds. When vehicle is running at high
speed, the heat transfer coefficient increases with speed [22] and convection heat load
from the ambient increases accordingly which is a significant factor. Due to increase in
air mass flow rate the cooling effect produced by the evaporative cooling system also
increases considerably which tends to compensate the increased cooling load.
 Water Consumption vs Speed
9
8
Water Consumption L/hr

7
6
5 Evaporative System
4 Cooling
3 With modification
2
1 (Ambient 46°C RH 30%)
0
0 15 30 45 60 75
Vehicle Speed km/kr

Fig. 7 Water Consumption vs Speed with modification

10. Auxiliary Power arrangement in vehicle

The system has pump and fan as the only power consuming units. Though the power
requirement is low this is easily managed by the conventional alternator current when
the vehicle is on. However in order to avail the comfort even in vehicle off condition it is
essential to provide a separate power source for the unit. This can be materialized by
application of dual battery system. This system has an auxiliary battery apart from main
battery and both these are connected to the alternator by dual battery isolator device (fig.
8).

The battery isolator is like an automatic switch which will only allow the second battery
to charge after the first battery / car battery has reached a certain voltage (normally 13.8
volts on a 12 volt system) indicating that battery is charged. Then both batteries will
charge until the power level in the first battery drops below a certain point (normally 12.7
volts on a 12 volt system). At that point the automatic switch in the isolator disconnects
the two batteries. When the main battery is below 12.7 volts power can be drawn from
the secondary battery, but because they are disconnected, power from main battery
cannot be drawn. This ensures that the main battery does not go flat. Even if the
secondary battery goes flat, the engine will crank from main battery.
Fig. 8 Dual Battery Isolator System

An isolator is required to enable the charging of a second 'auxiliary battery' but at the
same time isolate it from the main battery system in order to protect the main battery
from discharging into the same electrical circuit - usually the auxiliary battery is
connected to a fridge, winch or caravan electrical system.

The isolator gives charging priority to the main battery at all times [23] and only allows
the charging of the auxiliary battery after the main battery is sufficiently recharged.

11. Conclusion and future work

The present research establishes feasibility for application of evaporative cooling in

automotive application with promising area of energy conservation and environmental
protection advantages. The temperature achieved by the prototype is close to comfort
zone and energy consumption though indirect is approximately 10% of that in
comparison to conventional vapor compression system.

Presently, only truck industry had global sales volumes more than 2.5 million units [24]
in 2014 worldwide and implementation of the concerned evaporative cooling units will
result in substantial energy savings. There is a huge potential for application in
earthmoving machinery, trailers, mini vans etc. which are generally deprived of such
comfort facilities. However, the exact control of temperature and humidity is not feasible
with the present system, but the system is capable of producing acceptable comfort
conditioning inside the cabin in arid and semi arid climate areas. The unit will provide
comfort in extreme hot weather conditions and will allow the driver to work throughout
all daytime in summer which is a substantial advantage over present conditions.

The system is cheaper to manufacture and easier in installation and maintenance. It has
the only requirement of filling the water tank periodically. The water filling can be done
simultaneously at the time of the fuel filling session hence no additional time is required.
The additional weight due to the system can be maximum of up to 27.1 kg which can
add very small quantity (0.014L/hr) of additional fuel consumption [7]. Additionally,
increase in percentage of fresh air intake causes rise in power consumption for vapor
compression system [22] which is not the case for direct evaporative cooling systems as
they essentially works on 100% fresh air.

The good quality pads used in domestic applications are known to have life of more than
five years [5] and hence the pad maintenance is not frequent though this will be the
function of various weather conditions and water quality during the driving periods. To
avail better control on humidity, desiccant type systems coupled with evaporative
cooling are being proposed by the researchers and such systems are in practice for
residential application. However application of desiccant technology in automotive air
conditioning will result in over weight of the system along with space and operational
complexities and hence this is presently not a popular choice. If the humidity control
parameter is not mandatory (which is the case in residential evaporative coolers) this
system is likely to prove of excellent worth and utility.

NOMENCLATURE

A Area, m2

Mair Mass flow rate of air, kg/s

Mw Water consumption rate, kg/hr

RH Relative humidity

Tidbt Inlet air dry bulb temperature (ambient)

To'dbt Dry bulb temperature of air at fan exit

Vair Volume flow rate of air, m3/s

ho Specific Enthalpy of air in the cabin at steady state, kJ/kg

ho’ Specific Enthalpy of air at fan exit, kJ/kg

i ambient air inlet

o’ condition of air at pad exit

o air in the conditioned space

v Velocity of air, m/s

wi Humidity ratio of inlet air, kg moisture/kg dry air

wo Humidity ratio of air at fan exit, kg moisture/kg dry air

GREEK SYMBOLS

µ Effectiveness

ρ density of air, kg/m3

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Annex I

1. Air flow rate, Vair=v x A

= 2.5 m/s x 0.0706 m2
=
0.175 m3/s

=175 L/s

2. Air mass flow rate, Mair = ρVair

=1.08kg/m3 x 0.175 m3/s

=0.189 kg/s

3. The effectiveness of the cooling system can be estimated as (as per data in fig. 3):

µ=(Tidbt-To'dbt)/(Tidbt-To'wbt)

=(45-29)/(45-24)

=76%

4. Cooling load of the cabin( as per data in fig. 3)

=Mair (ho -ho' )

=0.189 kg/s x (88.04-74.4) kJ/kg…………...refer.[25]

 =2.6 kW

5. Water consumption ( as per data in fig. 3)

Mw= Mair (wo’ -wi)

=1.08 kg/m3 x 0.175 m3/s x (0.01771-0.012) kg/kg of dry air……. …refer.[25]

=3.88 kg/hr