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The concepts of set point and hysteresis band also exist protection. As a result, there are two fixed air
in the cycling pressure switch in the form of a low temperature levels available to an air conditioning
pressure set point for compressor disengagement and a system: one temperature is provided by the refrigeration
second, higher pressure set point for compressor re- system which is maintained at slightly above the water
engagement. The difference between the two pressure freeze point and the second temperature is provided by
set points is equivalent to the hysteresis band in the the engine coolant. By taking a portion of the cooled air
thermistor control scheme. from the evaporator of the refrigeration system and
feeding it through the heater supplied with engine
The considerations for designing the hysteresis band coolant, the air temperature can be increased and
include the protection of the compressor clutch and the subsequently remixed with the remaining stream of air
thermal comfort variation as perceived by the from the evaporator to achieve any temperature
passengers. Too narrow of a hysteresis band causes bracketed by the water freeze temperature and the
the compressor to cycle at a higher frequency which engine coolant temperature. The proportioning of air
may cause the clutch to wear out prematurely. Too wide through the heater is accomplished by a device in the
a hysteresis band can lead to excessive temperature HVAC module known as the “mix door”.
variations at the discharge outlets which can be an
annoyance to the passengers in the car. This method of temperature control through the mixing
of cooled air and reheated air provides a system that is
Recently, the cycling of the compressor gained a new precise and responsive. The inefficiency of such a
application beyond the simple capacity control for freeze system in energy use is only highlighted recently as
protection. With rising gasoline price and increased energy conservation and environmental protection
environmental concerns, more energy efficient air became a new priority.
conditioning systems are being demanded by the vehicle
manufacturers to help increase the overall fuel economy To reduce the reheat and, therefore, compressor energy
of vehicles. One popular method of increasing the consumption, the compressor is cycled to an elevated
energy efficiency of an AC system is to reduce the set point above that of the water freeze point. The
reheating of cooled air to a higher temperature to meet general principle is to cool the air only as low as needed
the discharge temperature requirement in the passenger to meet the discharge temperature requirement. If the
compartment, either directly commanded by the discharge temperature target is 10 degrees Celsius,
passenger, which is the case with manually controlled there is no need to cool the air down to 2 degrees
air conditioning systems, or indirectly through the use of Celsius only to reheat it back up to 10 degrees Celsius.
an automatic climate system. The compressor can be operated to the elevated
temperature set point of 10 degrees Celsius with the air
directly discharged to the passenger compartment
without reheating. Of course, there is an upper limit as to
how high one can raise the set point. Considerations
must be given to humidity comfort in the passenger
Air Temperature
Celsius.
Breath Temperature
Discharge Target
Time
Air Temperature
change is achieved through active displacement control Breath Temperature
Reheat
COMPRESSOR FOR SERIES REHEAT
REDUCTION
Set Point for Freeze Protection
Figure 5 shows the working of the HVAC module. The From Equations (1) and (2), the outflow air temperature
blower draws either fresh air from the outside of the from the heater can be determined by way of equation
vehicle or recirculated air from the inside of the (3),
passenger compartment depending on the position of
the air inlet door. Regardless of the source, the blower Thtr = ε (Tclt − Tevp ) + Tevp (3)
sends the air through the evaporator of the refrigeration
system to be cooled to a lower temperature, typically
BULK DISCHARGE TEMPERATURE
slightly above the freeze point of water for basic
systems, or elevated temperature for energy efficient
The bulk discharge temperature from the HVAC module
systems.
can be determined by mixing the two streams of air, that
which goes through the heater and that which bypasses
The air coming out of the evaporator is split into two
the heater. The percentage of the heater airflow is
streams. One part of the airflow goes through a heater
where it is warmed up by the engine coolant. The designated by a fractional flow function f (ω ) , where ω
second part bypasses the heater. After the heater, the is the mixing door position spanning the range of Full
two streams of air are combined in a mixing chamber Cold (0%) to Full Hot (100%). The formula for
calculating the bulk discharge temperature is given in
Equation (4),
Air Temperature
Discharge
Temperature δ T dis
The relationship between the air temperature variation at
the evaporator outflow and the variation of the bulk
Discharge Target
discharge can be obtained by the differential analysis of
Reheat
Equation (5). Taking the difference of both sides of Evaporator Air Out
Equation (5), we derive, Temperature δ T evp
δTdis (Tdis )
δTevp, hys =
[1 − f (ω )ε ] (11)
δ T dis
0 100%
Mix Door Position
EOAT
requested discharge temperature corresponding to any
Evaporator Air Out Temperature (Deg. C)
Tdis = FC + P(FH − FC )
8
EOAT (12)
6
4
Ignoring the duct temperature rise for the moment, the
2
T
frz knob position requesting a discharge temperature equal
to the highest allowable Evaporator Out target
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
temperature EOAT given an ambient temperature is
Ambient Temperature (Deg. C) given by,
EOAT − FC
Tset = ⋅ P + FC (15)
PEAOT
FC FH
For the temperature knob positions between EOAT and
FH, the air mix door position is moved away from the
Full Cold position (0%) to get a warmer discharge
temperature than EOAT. For the same range of
Fig. 12 Manual Temperature Knob with Integrated temperature knob positions, the compressor cycling set
Series Reheat Reduction
point is maintained at the maximum elevation of EOAT,
as depicted in Figure 11. With the air mix door away
The manual AC system with Series Reheat Reduction
from the 0% position, a stream of air will be passed
relies on how the compressor operates at two key points
through the heater and remixed with the remaining
of the manual temperature control knob as highlighted in
bypassing stream. Depending on the temperature knob
Figure 12. At the FC point, the compressor will operate
position, the air mix door will be correspondingly
to freeze control set point, i.e., Tfrz, and the discharge
positioned to provide the requested discharge established for each ambient conditions and vehicle
temperature. speed. Similarly, the compressor RPM and vehicle
speed correlation were easily obtained from the road trip
For the range of knob positions given by, data.
100% >= P > PEAOT (16) With the supporting data from the modeled vehicle,
complete operating conditions were established for the
test stand to simulate the above listed ambient
the expected air mix door position in the module with
conditions and for the vehicle speeds of Idle, 48.3kph,
perfect linearity can be calculated by the following
80.5kph, and 112.6kph (originally 30mph, 50mph, and
equation,
70mph in English Units).
2
SP15 AC
6CVC160 AC
Compressor Power (KW)
SP15 EEAC
6CVC160 EEAC
1.5
0.5
0
10CX90% 15.6Cx80% 21.1Cx70% 26.7Cx60% 32.2Cx50% 40.6Cx35%
Ambient Conditions
10.0
9.0
% Improvement During FTP Highway
% Improvement During SC03
8.0
Fuel Economy Improvement (%)
7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
VCe VCpSRHR VCpFrz FixSRHR FixFrz
Fig. 14 Vehicle Fuel Economy Improvement due to Compressors and Controls with Fixed
Displacement Compressor in Freeze Control as Baseline
After the concept was successfully validated on the test Reheat Reduction, based on both the ambient
stand, further evaluation was carried out on a compact temperature and the temperature knob position.
production car with a small engine. The fuel economy
impact of the Cycling Pneumatic Compressor was tested, A key point of evaluation on the mid-sized sedan is the
along with the fixed displacement compressors and drivability impact of cycling the pneumatic variable
electronic variable compressors, in a certified Emission compressor. Road trip tests of the vehicle indicate that
Test Chamber. Evaluation of the compressor and controls the cycling of the pneumatic variable compressor is
were carried out using the EPA FTP and SC03 driving completely imperceptible to the driver of the vehicle. The
cycles with the compressor turned on for both. low torque impact on the powertrain is attributed to the
stroke control characteristics of the pneumatic variable
Figure 14 shows the vehicle fuel economy impact of the compressors. When declutched, the pneumatic variable
compressors and controls under the SC03 driving cycle compressor’s internal mechanisms return the resting
when the ambient temperature is at 24 degrees Celsius stroke position to a default value that can be custom-
(75 degrees Fahrenheit). With the fixed compressor designed. Presently, the default resting stroke is either
performing freeze control as the baseline, the vehicle at 10% or 40%. When the compressor is re-engaged,
Fuel Economy improvement due to compressor upgrade the compressor stroke will move from the resting stroke
or control methodology change is summarized. What is to a stroke dynamically determined by the AC system
clearly indicated by these tests is that the electronic operation. This re-engagement property of the
variable compressor executing Series Reheat Reduction pneumatic variable compressor provides the low impact
is the most effective in helping increasing the vehicle on the powertrain.
fuel economy. This is achieved, of course, at some cost
penalty for the electronic variable compressor. What is The other factor that imparts low impact engagement is
to be highlighted here is that immediately next to the that the Series Reheat Reduction via cycling of the
electronic variable compressor, the most energy efficient pneumatic compressor occurs mostly at mid to low
air conditioning system operation is achieved by the ambient temperatures. As such, the compressor torque
pneumatic variable compressor performing Series is low or moderate to begin with, which ensures
Reheat Reduction. As expected, the fixed displacement minimum powertrain interference when cycled. At higher
compressor under freeze control is ranked the lowest ambient conditions, the application of the Series Reheat
and consumes the highest amount of fuel. A slight Reduction is scaled back to provide sufficient cooling
surprise is that the fixed displacement compressor with capacity. The control of the compressor is governed by
Series Reheat Reduction did not outperform the freeze control. As a result, capacity control at higher
pneumatic variable compressor under freeze control, as ambient is returned to internal pneumatic control and
is the case in the system stand testing. The discrepancy there is no cycling occurring with high torque value.
may be explained by the fact the two classes of
compressors are used: the bench testing used The low torque cycling of the compressor is beneficial
compressors in the 155~160cc displacement range and externally to the powertrain in terms of low torque
the vehicle testing here used compressors in the interference. It is also beneficial to the clutch reliability. It
125~130cc displacement range. Additionally, Powertrain may be expected that the clutches designed to cycle the
Control Module’s anticipation routine may bias the tests fixed displacement compressor should last beyond its
result slightly. standard design life when used in the context of
pneumatic compressor.
In the same figure, the FTP Highway driving cycle test
results for the same vehicle and compressors are CONCLUSION
shown. The FTP driving cycle tests do reconfirm what
has been learned from the bench testing and the SC03 The pneumatic variable compressor was designed to
cycle testing, that the cycling pneumatic compressor eliminate the cycling forced by the application of the
provides energy efficiency benefits surpassing those fixed displacement compressor so as to achieve
possible with the cycling fixed displacement compressor, capacity control to prevent freeze. In the two decades
and often very close to those from the electronic variable after the pneumatic variable compressor was introduced,
compressors. it has proven superior in its high energy efficiency
operation and low powertrain impact. It is interesting to
Additional validation of the present Cycling Pneumatic see that the application of the cycling methodology to a
Compressor methodology was carried out on a mid- compressor designed to eliminate it yields such a
sized sedan with a V-6 engine. Integration of the control beneficial result in achieving Series Reheat Reduction.
head interface as outlined in earlier sections was
implemented. This vehicle implementation allows Through bench testing, small vehicle testing in Emission
seamless phasing-in and phasing-out of the Series Chamber, and finally on a mid-sized sedan on the road,
it has been demonstrated that cycling the pneumatic CONTACT
variable compressor provides a reliable method to
execute Series Reheat Reduction for enhanced energy Mingyu Wang is a Staff Research Engineer with 14
efficiency operation of the air conditioning system. It years of experience in the area of advanced PTC and
offers energy efficiency better than what is possible with HVAC systems development. He holds a Ph.D. in
the cycling fixed compressors under Series Reheat Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and is a
Reduction. It provides energy efficiency benefit close to member of SAE. He can be reached at (716) 439-2493
that offered by the electronic variable compressor or mingyu.wang@delphi.com
executing Series Reheat Reduction and does it at a
reasonable low cost. DEFINITIONS, ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS