international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116

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Performance of an automotive air conditioning

system with the variation of state-of-charge of
the storage battery

S.P. Datta a,*, P.K. Das b

a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, BITS Pilani- Hyderabad Campus, 500 078, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, 721 302, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: In an automotive air conditioning system (AACS), the evaporator blower and the con-
Received 7 March 2016 denser fan are powered by a DC power supply containing a storage battery. The unique mutual
Received in revised form 9 January interaction between the battery and the AACS, when the battery is isolated from the ex-
2017 ternal power supply, has been investigated experimentally. As the prime movers draw power,
Accepted 14 January 2017 the charge level of the battery falls and in turn the speed of the prime movers drops con-
Available online 17 January 2017 tinuously. This deteriorates the performance of the condenser and the evaporator. Besides,
a Matlab/Simulink based model has been developed to study the characteristics of the said
Keywords: electromechanical system during the charging and discharging cycles of the battery. Steady
Lead-acid battery state performance of the system has also been studied at different battery voltage to supple-
Automotive air conditioning system ment the dynamic data. The study reveals the typical deterioration of the cooling capacity
Simscape model and the COP of the system during the gradual derating of the supply voltage.
Battery discharge 2017 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
Battery state-of-charge
Coefficient of Performance

Performance dun systme de conditionnement dair

automobile avec variation de ltat de charge de la batterie
daccumulateurs
Mots cls : Batterie daccumulateurs au plomb ; Systme de conditionnement automobile ; Modle Simscape ; Dcharge de
laccumulateur ; tat de charge de la batterie daccumulateurs ; Coefficient de performance

functions ranging from cooling, lighting and crucial safety

1. Introduction systems to the car entertainment system. For example, in most
of the Automotive Air Conditioning Systems (AACSs), though
In traditional automobiles, run by combustion engines, aux- the compressor is directly powered by the car engine, the evapo-
iliary electric power is required for a variety of onboard rator blower and the condenser fan are run by DC motors

* Corresponding author. Department of Mechanical Engineering, BITS Pilani- Hyderabad Campus, 500 078, India. Fax: +91 040 66303998.
E-mail address: spdatta@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in (S.P. Datta).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2017.01.012
0140-7007/ 2017 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116 105

battery voltage is below a certain limit, in such case, as an es-

Nomenclature sential safety feature the ECM does not allow the car to start.
The lead-acid battery, employed by many of the automo-
AACS Automotive air conditioning system
biles, is an electrical storage device that uses a reversible
COP Coefficient of performance
chemical reaction to store energy. It uses a combination of lead
SOC State-of-charge
plates and an electrolyte consisting of diluted sulfuric acid to
A Exponential zone amplitude (V)
convert electrical energy into chemical potential energy (Ceraolo,
B Exponential zone time constant inverse
2000). Till date, apart from the experimental techniques, there
(Ah)1
C Battery capacity (Ah) are two major approaches to analyze the performance of a
storage battery. They are based on electrochemical analysis and
Cact i (t ) dt = actual battery capacity ( Ah )
E0 Battery constant voltage (V) equivalent electrical circuit (Tremblay et al., 2007). Again for
electrical circuit based model, there are different approaches
Exp(t) Exponential zone voltage (V)
like stabilized float current, Coulometric measurement, open
h Enthalpy (kJ kg1)
i Battery current (A) circuit battery voltage, loaded battery voltage (Pang et al., 2001)
and voltage-based correction (Cho et al., 2012; Leksono et al.,
if Filtered current (A)
K Polarization constant (V (Ah)1) or 2013). Neural network methods (Bo et al., 2008; Kang et al., 2014)
polarization resistance ( ) and their combinations using a model-based estimation ap-
m Mass flow rate (kg sec1) proach (like Kalman filter) (Hu et al., 2012; Piao et al., 2014; Xiong
et al., 2013; Zhang and Xia, 2011) have also been tried.
Q Cooling capacity (kW)
In the context of the present work, which considers the
R Internal resistance ( )
u(t) Charge or discharge mode mutual interaction between the battery and the car air con-
U Uncertainty ditioning system, the electrical circuit based model can be useful
V Voltage to track the variation of battery voltage, current, and SOC (Chen
and Rincn-Mora, 2006; Chenglin et al., 2009). Chen and
W Compressor work (kW)
Rincn-Mora (2006) proposed a battery model with two resistor-
capacitor (RC) parallel networks and claimed that it is capable
Subscripts/superscripts
of predicting the variation of battery voltage and current in real-
air Air side
time. In the past, Shepherd (1965) developed a generalized model
batt Battery
for charging and discharging in terms of terminal voltage, open
comp Compressor
circuit voltage, internal resistance, discharge current, and SOC.
cond Condenser
The Shepherd model was further modified by Tremblay et al.
eva Evaporator
(2007) considering a polarization resistance instead of a po-
in Inlet
larization voltage. This model uses only the battery SOC as a
out Outlet
state variable to estimate the charging and discharging voltage.
ref Refrigerant side
The major limitation of this model is that it considers a con-
* Non-dimensional parameter
stant current as an input, and it is valid only under steady state.
Some of the limitations of the above model were removed by
Tremblay and Dessaint (2009) who developed a generalized
model to estimate the charging and discharging dynamics of
requiring auxiliary DC power. In addition, DC power is also used the battery and experimentally validated the prediction for four
to engage and disengage the compressor clutch and to empower different kinds of batteries. Finally, the model was included in
a number of electronic switches, relays and sensors related to the SimPowerSystems simulation toolbox of Matlab and was
the AACS. Electric power is also used in Engine Control Module used in a detailed simulation of an electric vehicle based on
(ECM), fuel pump, fuel injectors, Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) a hybrid fuel cellbattery power source.
valve, canister purge solenoid valve, camshaft sensor, oxygen Zhang et al. (2012) proposed a novel method of regulation
sensor heaters, etc. Though the power requirement of many for a vehicle generator and lead-acid battery system. By inte-
of the functions listed above is nominal and occasional, the grating the regulation method, the output voltage of the
evaporator blower and the condenser fan demands a substan- generator is determined and controlled by the algorithm to save
tial supply of power and that to continuously for a prolonged electrical energy and to protect the lead-acid battery. For on-
period. The supply of these auxiliary powers is ensured by the road vehicles powered by an electric traction system, Capasso
engine itself through a system which contains an alternator and Veneri (2014) experimentally compared the performance
and a storage battery. This system can also take care of some of two different type of lithium batteries (Li[NiCoMn]O2 and
of the power demands even when the engine is not running. LiFePO4) with that of a lead-acid battery. They observed that
The storage battery can ensure the continuous supply of power Li[NiCoMn]O2 shows a high charging rate, whereas LiFePO4 ex-
as it replenishes the same from the car engine through a charg- hibits a better discharging characteristics.
ing process. Due to the current interest in electric and hybrid cars, re-
It is, therefore, needless to say that the battery voltage and search in the automotive comfort has gained a new vigor. Not
its state-of-charge (SOC) is very important for the flawless only the dynamic performance of battery of an electric or hybrid
onboard operation of several automotive systems including the vehicle, as a power source is important, but also its thermal
AACS. As some of the operations cannot be performed if the management is very crucial for the new generation cars.
106 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116
Neubauer and Wood (2014) used the Battery Lifetime Analy-
sis and Simulation Tool for Vehicles (BLAST-V) to examine the
sensitivity of battery electric vehicles (BEV) utility to driver ag-
gression and climate effects. They observed that in cold and
hot climates, the battery performance degraded due to the in-
efficient cabin heating system and the high peak on-road
battery temperature, respectively. Xing et al. (2014) developed
a temperature based battery model to estimate the effect of
the ambient temperature on the open circuit voltage (OCV) and
SOC. Though there are a number of literature related to battery
modeling and its application in electric or hybrid vehicles
(Capasso and Veneri, 2014; Hung and Wu, 2012; Kim et al., 2012;
Moseley, 1997; Omar et al., 2012; Smith and Wang, 2006; Veneri
et al., 2011), literature on the conventional lead-acid storage
battery is limited. Particularly, the effect of charging and dis-
charging of battery on the performance of an AACS has not
been studied.
The present work considers an AACS with its prime movers
for air movement through the condenser and the evaporator
powered by a lead-acid storage battery. The charging and dis-
charging characteristics of the battery have been investigated.
The discharging occurs while the battery is made to supply the
power to the prime movers. The investigation comprises of
simulations of the charging and the discharging processes as
well as the performance assessment of the AACS during dis-
charge through an elaborate experimentation. The change of
process parameters of the air conditioning cycle and the de-
terioration of the cooling capacity and the Coefficient of
Performance (COP) with the gradual decrease of the battery
voltage have also been reported.
2. Lead-acid battery and its power
distribution to the prime movers
Fig. 1 schematically describes the electrical power supply of
a car and the prime movers of the air conditioning system
Fig. 1 Typical electrical power distribution for a conventional car (Modified Firestone, 2015).
driven by it (Firestone, 2015). In the normal operating condi-
tion, electric power generated by the alternator takes care of
all electrical loads and also maintains the state of the charge
of the storage battery. The details of the power generation com-
ponents along with power distribution of the battery to the
AACS are described below:
Battery Until the car starts, the lead-acid battery is the
lone power source for the entire vehicle. It provides power
to the ignition and fuel systems, as well as power is also
provided to the headlights, evaporator blower, condenser
fan, radio, electrical sensors and to some auxiliary compo-
nents subject to the engine is off.
Starter The battery supplies a small amount of power to
the starter motor to start the vehicle. The starter then rotates
the flywheel, which turns the crankshaft and begins the
movement of the engines pistons.
Alternator Once the engine is running, electric power is
generated by the alternator as it is driven by the same belt
drive. Then it takes care all the required electrical loads of
the vehicle and also maintains the state of the charge of
the storage battery.
If the power supply from the alternator is hindered with
the battery still having a charged state, power drains out
from the battery to run the evaporator blower and the con-
denser fan. Due to the finite storage capacity of the battery,
this eventuality will have two implications. First, the supply
voltage will fall continuously reducing the speed of the blower
and the fan; thus degrading the performance of the air con-
ditioning system. Second, the continuous running of these
two prime movers will impose a typical discharge pattern of
the battery. In the present work, we propose to assess both
the phenomena which are highly interrelated and intricately
coupled using a stationary test facility for AACS. The facility
is described below.
 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116
3. Experimental facility and test procedure
A fully instrumented stationary test bench (Fig. 2) for the
AACS has been developed to apprise its steady state and
dynamic performance under both healthy and faulty condi-
tions (with simulated faults). Refrigerant R134a is used as the
working fluid of the present test rig with a critical charge of
530 g. The test bench uses the basic hardware needed for the
air conditioning of a four-seater car along with an elaborate
arrangement of sensors, actuators and a dedicated data
acquisition system as described in Datta et al. (2013). The
compressor of the refrigeration system is powered by a
programmable variable speed drive while the motors of the
evaporator blower and the condenser fan receive the DC
supply from a 12-volt car battery. To mimic the continuous
charging of the battery, it is connected with a regulated DC
power supply during the normal operation. The in-house
developed electrical module along with the controller is
depicted in Fig. 3. It may be noted that, in addition to
running the blower and the fan, the electrical module has to
operate the compressor clutch, a number of switches and
relays as can be seen in Fig. 3. These operations are done
exactly according to the protocol followed in the actual car
(Datta et al., 2013). At the prescribed battery charge level (12
volt, 36 Ah), the condenser fan operates at a constant speed
(1750 rpm), whereas the blower could be operated at three
different speeds of 2208, 3092 and 3475 rpm with the help of
the existing manual control switch denoted as set 1, set 2
and set 3.
Fig. 2 The pictorial view of the developed AACS.
107
Three different kinds of experiments were planned as elabo-
rated below.
a) The fully charged battery (SOC = 100%) is allowed to dis-
charge at a fixed compressor speed until the evaporator
blower or the condenser fan stops. It may be noted that the
compressor ceases running once the battery voltage drops
down to 8 volt. However, still the battery is capable of
running the motors of the blower and the fan up to a much
lower battery voltage. This gives an opportunity to inves-
tigate the performance of the AACS during the continuous
discharge of the battery. At the same time, the discharge
characteristics of the battery loaded with the demand of the
air conditioning system could be studied.
b) The charging characteristics of the battery in the absence
of any external loads have also been studied separately.
c) Additionally, elaborate experiments have been conducted
to determine the steady state performance of the AACS at
different charge level over a range of battery voltage from
12 to 8 volt.
For the last set of experiments, the battery voltage was kept
constant at different steady state values by regulating the
current supply through the DC power source. During each of
the experimental runs and for any voltage level, experiments
are conducted at all the three blower speeds. The battery char-
acteristics along with the system parameters are continuously
monitored through a National Instruments Data Acquisition
System interfaced with LabVIEW (2010) platform with a sam-
pling rate of 10 Hz.
108 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116

Fig. 3 Electrical wire diagram of the AACS powered by 12-volt lead-acid battery.

3.1. Experimental uncertainties
As the performance parameters are predicted from a number
of experimental measurements, some uncertainties are asso-
ciating with them. These uncertainties can be estimated using
the principal of propagation of error as suggested by Moffat
(1988). According to this method the uncertainty in U, U = U ( Xi )
can be determined from the uncertainties of the indepen-
dent measurements using the following relationship:
for a particular test condition at compressor speed of 1200 rpm
and blower speed at set 3, are 1.52%, 1.52%, 4.39%, 5.68% and
7.44% respectively. Uncertainties in air side calculation are more
due to higher errors in the relevant measurements.
4. Battery model
4.1. Charging and discharging process of the battery

2
U
n
Before describing the experimental observations, it would be
U = X X i (1)
appropriate to briefly describe the charging and discharging
i =1 i

processes of the battery. Fig. 4 shows a generalized discharge

where, Xi denotes a typical independent measurement and Xi characteristic of a battery. An exponential voltage drop is ob-
is the associated error. served at the beginning of discharging. The area under the curve
Based on the accuracies for various measured variables, the representing this region depends on the battery type, its ca-
typical uncertainties of Q eva,ref , W
 comp , COPref , Q eva,air and COPair pacity and charge level. The next zone is more consistent and

Fig. 4 Typical discharging characteristics of a battery.

 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116 109

Fig. 5 Charging or discharging model of the lead-acid battery.

stable until the voltage drops below the battery nominal voltage. window. Inside these blower and fan subsystems there exists
Finally, in the third phase, the battery voltage drops rapidly. one Rotational Electromechanical Converter Block to connect
The dynamic relationship between voltage and current of the electrical circuit with the physical mechanical circuit. A
the lead-acid battery during charging and discharging can be dynamic load as a function of motor speed is introduced in
expressed by following the (Tremblay and Dessaint, 2009) model each subsystem. Besides, the electrical components are a
which modified the analysis of Shepherd (1965). The com- current-voltage and a voltage-current Simscape interface, a 12-
plete charging or discharging model of the lead-acid battery volt DC lead-acid battery source, and a current sensor. The
is shown in Fig. 5. physical parameters of the battery are incorporated in the Lead-
Battery charge: Acid Battery Block. Experimentally obtained time dependent
current data is used as the input parameter to the current
C C sensor for the initialization of the model simulation. Fig. 6 also
Vbatt,ch arg e = E0 R i K if K Cact + Exp ( t ) (2)
Cact 0.1 C C Cact contains a Solver Configuration Block consisting of param-
eters relevant to the numerical algorithms for Simscape
Battery discharge: simulation.

C
Vbatt,disch arg e = E0 R i K (Cact + i f ) + Exp (t )
C Cact
where,
 ( t ) = B. i (t ) . [ Exp (t ) + A.u (t )]
Exp
Assuming a constant battery terminal voltage, the battery
state-of-charge (SOC) can be defined as,
1
t
SOC = 100 1 i ( t ) dt
C0
As per the manufacturers specifications, the present battery
has the capacity (C) of 36 Ah. The battery capacity is time
variant and is dependent upon the current profile. For most
of the analyses, it is assumed that the SOC for a fully charged
battery is 100% at time, t = 0, whereas, it is 0% for a fully dis-
charged battery.
4.2. Model description
The lead-acid battery used in the present test rig and the prime
movers connected to it have been modeled as a combination
of electrical and mechanical components in Matlab/Simulink
based platform with the Simscape library functions as shown
in Fig. 6. The main model window contains two mechanical
components, an evaporator blower and a condenser fan sub-
system with two electrical in/out terminals and one plot
(3)
5. Results
A large number of experiments covering both the steady and
(4) the transient condition have been planned in this investiga-
tion to visualize the effect of battery charge on the performance
of an automotive air conditioner. Steady state experiments have
been done at different charge levels. To start with, the charg-
ing of the battery (when it does not support any load) has been
studied. This exercise helps to characterize the battery and also
(5)
lends an opportunity to verify the battery model against the
experiment. In addition, the cooling effect inside the car cabin
with the variation of battery charge is also investigated.
5.1. Charging state
To simulate the process of charging, the Simscape battery model
described in Fig. 6 is modified by bypassing the evaporator
blower and the condenser fan and incorporating a DC power
source in the circuit. To initialize the model, the current, mea-
sured at the battery terminal with the AACS off, is used. In the
test rig, the charging of the battery takes place by using a DC
power source with an initial current of 2.5 A. As the battery
gets charged, the current consumption decreases gradually. The
duration of the battery to get fully charged is around two hours.
Fig. 7 depicts the charging characteristics of the lead-acid battery
used in the AACS as obtained from the experimental mea-
surements as well as from the simulation.
110 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116
Fig. 6 Simscape model of the lead-acid battery coupled with the prime movers of the AACS.
It may be noted that the measured voltage does not closely
follow the simulation curve at the inception of charging. While
the simulation shows a slow and gradual increase of the battery
voltage, the measured voltage reaches the saturated value with
a few step changes. There could be a number of reasons for
this initial discrepancy. For example, sulfuric acid with higher
specific gravity is generated during the charging and sinks
toward the bottom of the cell creating a gradient of specific
gravity (ANSI/IEEE, 1987). This gives rise to a voltage differ-
ence which cannot be considered in the present model. Change
Fig. 7 Charging performance of the lead-acid battery.
of SOC as could be estimated from the measured current and
voltage using Eq. (5) is predicted very accurately by the model.
As the battery gets fully charged, the SOC approaches unity
and remains constant even with overcharging.
5.2. Discharging state
During the discharging stage, initially, the fully charged battery
(SOC = 100%) is allowed to discharge until the limiting voltage
is reached and the evaporator blower or the condenser fan
stops. Though the AACS runs from the inception of the dis-
charging process, the magnetic clutch of the compressor
disengages at a voltage level of the battery around 8 volts as
a safety measure. However, the blower and the fan continue
to run till the battery supports their operation.
Fig. 8(a) shows the simulated characteristics along with the
experimental results for the voltage, current, power consump-
tion, and SOC of the battery during discharge at a particular
compressor speed and blower settings (set 3). The correspond-
ing errors between the experiments and the simulations are
also depicted in Fig. 8(b). The agreement between the two is
reasonably well. A certain variation in the experimental and
simulated results is observed in the zone of exponential fall
of the battery voltage, whereas, it is well matched after this
zone throughout the discharging period. This variation in the
exponential zone is due to a drop in potential at the begin-
ning of the battery discharge and is not captured in the present
discharge model (Eq. (3)). Further, the discharge characteris-
tics of the battery depend on its health conditions which the
model fails to take care of. As the SOC is a function of battery
current only (Eq. (5)), the measured and simulated SOC are over-
lapping each other. It is also noted that the fall of SOC remains
 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116
Fig. 8 (a): Discharging performance of the lead-acid battery. (b): Error in simulation of battery discharge.
slow and its value is relatively high even at the end of the
process. This is also not an unusual characteristic as has been
reported by other researchers (Pang et al., 2001; Xiong et al.,
2014).
Fig. 9 depicts the gradual decrease of the speed of the evapo-
rator blower and the condenser fan during the discharge of the
battery. It may be noted that while the blower can be oper-
ated at three different set points, i.e. at three different speeds
for a given power supply, the condenser fan runs at a single
Fig. 9 Fall of speed of the evaporator blower and
condenser fan with battery discharge.
111
rpm depending upon the battery voltage. Fig. 9(b) depicts the
variation of speed of the condenser fan when the blower of
the evaporator is set at set 3. For other set points, the ob-
served changes are very marginal. The continuous curves in
the figure denote the simulation results, and the discrete data
points indicate the experimentally measured speeds. As the
test rig does not have a facility of monitoring the motor speeds
continuously, the experimental results depicted in the figure
have been obtained during the steady state operation of the
prime movers at the corresponding voltage level of the
battery. The comparison not only indicates a close agree-
ment between the experiment and the simulation, but it also
signifies that the cases of steady state and transient opera-
tions of the prime movers are consistent when the rpm of the
motors are identical at a given battery voltage. It may be noted
that despite the relative large error between simulation and
measurement in battery voltage, the error between the mea-
sured and the simulated evaporator blower and condenser fan
speed is small. The reasons for such mismatch are similar to
those are explained above (Fig. 8(a,b)). Obviously, it indicates
that though the present model predicts the general trends fairly
well, there exists scope for its refinement.
Mass flow rate of the refrigerant is continuously moni-
tored with the help of a Coriolis mass flow meter. Fig. 10 shows
the variation of the refrigerant mass flow rate ( m  ref
* ) , normal-
ized by the flow rate corresponding to the battery voltage of
12 volts. With the reduction of battery voltage in the evapo-
rator side, a drop in evaporator outlet refrigerant temperature
is observed which will result in an increase of refrigerant density
at compressor inlet. As a result, a marginal increase in
112 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116
Fig. 10 Variation of normalized refrigerant mass flow rate
with battery voltage.
non-dimensional mass flow rate is observed as the battery dis-
charges gradually. The refrigerant flow rate of set 2 is observed
highest in some cases as it is normalized with respect to its
maximum and minimum range. It may be noted that the ab-
solute value of refrigerant mass flow rate for blower set point
2 is not the maximum.
Next, the dynamic characteristics of different compo-
nents of the AACS during battery discharge are presented. Fig. 11
shows the variation of condenser pressure and the refriger-
ant temperature at the condenser outlet. As the compressor
runs at a constant rpm, during discharge, the refrigerant mass
flow rate changes only marginally. But the rate of air flow
through the condenser decreases gradually hindering the
cooling of the refrigerant passing through it. Both the pres-
Fig. 11 Variation of refrigerant pressure and temperature
at the condenser outlet with a continuous battery voltage
drop.
Fig. 12 Variation of refrigerant pressure and temperature
at the evaporator outlet with a continuous battery voltage
drop.
sure and temperature of the refrigerant at condenser exit
increase as is commonly expected due to reduced cooling.
The evaporator pressure and the refrigerant temperature
at its exit exhibit different characteristics (Fig. 12). The blower
speed is nonlinearly related to the air flow rate which on the
other hand influences the rate of heat transfer to the evapo-
rator and finally the refrigerant temperature at the exit in a
complex manner. The evaporator pressure remains almost con-
stant while the exit temperature drops gradually. These trends
can be readily explained. With the gradual reduction of air flow
rate, heat transfer to the refrigerant in the evaporator reduces.
Consequently, the exit temperature of refrigerant from the
evaporator falls. In extreme conditions, this may have two
serious implications. At a very low air inlet temperature, this
may lead to the frosting of the evaporator. Further, with the
fall of the degree of superheat of the refrigerant, entry of wet
refrigerant to the compressor cannot be ruled out.
5.3. Effect of battery charge on system performance
Experiments were conducted keeping the terminal voltage of
the battery constant at five different values within a range of
12 to 8 volts by varying the battery charging current from the
DC power source. In each battery voltage, experiments were
conducted at three different blower set points. The reported
results are plotted against battery discharge voltage. However,
instead of battery voltage, one may select SOC as the inde-
pendent variable as it gives a true representation of the charging
state of the battery. In the present work, battery voltage is
chosen as it is a directly measurable parameter. All the above-
mentioned experiments were conducted at a compressor speed
of 1200 rpm with an average ambient temperature of 30 to 32C
and a relative humidity of 70 to 80%.
The air flow rate at a cross-section of the duct has been es-
timated by the measurement of velocity at different points by
traversing a hot wire type probe both length wise and height
 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116 113

Fig. 14 Variation of condenser outlet air temperature with

Fig. 13 Variation of normalized air flow rate with battery battery discharge.
discharge.

superheat is rather indirect with the help of REFPROP 9.1 (2010)

which may lead to some error in measurement or calculation.
wise at that section. It may be noted that the air flow rate is After observing the effect of battery voltage on individual
measured at both upstream and downstream of the evapora- process parameters, we focus on assessing the system perfor-
tor and the condenser. Fig. 13 shows the air flow rate, mance under the same conditions. It is observed in Fig. 18(a)
normalized with respect to its maximum value (as observed that the system cooling capacity obtained from Eq. (6) is almost
at the full charge of the battery), across the evaporator and the constant between the battery terminal voltages 12 to 10. There-
condenser surface induced by their corresponding fans at dif- after, it reduces suddenly with further discharging of the battery
ferent values of the battery terminal voltage. For both the cases, owing to the lack of air flow.
air velocity decreases with the drop in battery voltage. Inter-
estingly, the deterioration in air flow rate across the condenser  ref (heva,out heva,in )
Q eva,ref = m (6)
surface is almost five times for a decrease in battery termi-
nal voltage from 12 volts to 8 volts. Whereas, it is about two where the refrigerant mass flow rate is obtained from the mea-
times in case of the evaporator for considering all the three surement. Using the measured temperature and pressure data,
blower set points. The primary effect of a reduction in air flow
rate through these two heat exchangers is deterioration in heat
transfer. However, the manifestation of this effect on the per-
formance of the condenser and the evaporator is different as
has been discussed in the previous section. In case of the con-
denser, the air temperature will rise with the reduction in air
flow rate as can be seen in Fig. 14. It is well known that the
reduced cooling of the condenser of a vapor compression cycle
increases the condensing temperature and gives rise to a hike
in discharge pressure. This is well depicted in Fig. 15.
On the other hand, the thermostatic expansion valve tries
to maintain a nominal rate of cooling by adjusting the refrig-
erant flow rate even when a lesser amount of air flows through
the evaporator. This reduces the refrigerant exit temperature
(Fig. 16a) and gives a lower degree of superheat (Fig. 17). The
air exit temperature also falls as air passes through the cold
evaporator at a low flow rate. The reduced rate of heat trans-
fer is manifested through a reduction in its degree of superheat.
Whereas, the evaporator pressure remains more or less un-
affected (Fig. 16b). Though the system is critically charged, its
degree of superheat is more due to the enhanced length of
tubing and incorporation of additional sensors and compo-
nents which are usually not present in any actual automotive Fig. 15 Variation of refrigerant temperature and pressure
air conditioning system. Further, the estimation of degree of at condenser outlet with battery voltage.
114 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116
Fig. 16 Variation of refrigerant temperature and pressure
at evaporator outlet with battery voltage.
heva,in and heva,out , the enthalpies of the refrigerant at the inlet
and outlet of the evaporator respectively are computed from
REFPROP 9.1 (2010).
Further, for obvious reasons it has been observed that with
the increase of blower speed, the cooling capacity of the system
increases at any level of battery charge. Contrary to the cooling
capacity, the system compression work, a function of refrig-
erant mass flow rate and enthalpy difference, continuously
increases with the reduction of battery charge. The compres-
sion work can be computed as follows,
 ref (hcomp,out hcomp,in )
Wcomp,ref = m
where hcomp,in and hcomp,out are the enthalpies of the refrigerant
at the inlet and outlet of the compressor respectively.
Fig. 17 Variation of degree of superheat with battery
voltage.
Fig. 18 Variation of system performance with battery
discharging voltage: a) cooling capacity and b) compression
work.
It is observed that the refrigerant enthalpy at the compres-
sor inlet continuously decreases with the fall of battery voltage,
whereas the outlet enthalpy increases. The increase of en-
thalpy difference obviously results in a rise of the system
compression work with the reduction of battery charge. Ad-
ditionally, with the increase of blower speed, the compression
work of the system decreases at any level of battery charge.
This is depicted in Fig. 18(b).
Fig. 19 shows the variation of Coefficient of Performance
(COP), which is a ratio of cooling capacity (Eq. (6)) and com-
(7) pression work (Eq. (7)), with the fall of battery charge. In this
figure, COP obtained from the air side measurements is also
superimposed. The air dry bulb temperature and relative hu-
midity at the cross-section of the evaporator and the condenser
ducting have been estimated at different points by traversing
a relative humidity sensor both length wise and height wise
at that section. Finally, from a psychrometric chart, the air side
enthalpy is estimated using the above two measurements. For
Fig. 19 Variation of system COP with battery discharging
voltage.
 international journal of refrigeration 75 (2017) 104116
the calculation of COP from air side, the cooling capacity is es-
timated from the above mentioned air side data of the
evaporator as explained in Datta et al. (2013). COP calculated
from two different methods agree very closely signifying the
robustness of the design of the set-up and the accuracy of the
measurement and analysis. From the results already dis-
cussed, it has been seen that the rate of increase of compression
work is much more compared to the rate of reduction of cooling
capacity as the battery voltage drops. As a consequence, COP
is observed to fall continuously with the drop of battery voltage.
The above observation has a very significant implication on
the auxiliary energy demand of an automobile. Even when there
is a small drop in battery voltage, the COP of the air condi-
tioning system decreases appreciably. This has a direct effect
on energy consumption. Further, as the cooling capacity also
reduces simultaneously, the system needs to run for a longer
duration to maintain the comfort condition. This combined with
a low air temperature feedback from the evaporator outlet may
completely mislead the controller.
6. Conclusion
The compressor of an AACS is powered by the engine while
the condenser fan and the evaporator blower of the same re-
ceives a DC supply through a storage battery whose charge level
is maintained in turn by the engine. If the supply to the battery
is disrupted, the motors of the fan and the blower deplete the
charge of the storage battery and thereby continuously reduce
its voltage. In turn, they also run at low voltage and could only
supply air at a falling rate. This unique dynamic condition has
been investigated in detail through simulation and experi-
mentations. Some important observations are discussed below.
It is fully intuitive that a reduced air flow either through
the condenser or the evaporator will degrade the perfor-
mance of the respective heat exchanger as well as that of
the refrigeration cycle. Number of studies have been done
to investigate the effect of air flow reduction through either
the condenser (Chiou, 1983; Datta et al., 2014; Mao et al.,
2013) or the evaporator (Aganda et al., 2000; Krn et al., 2011)
on the system performance. However, the present study is
unique, as not only the condenser and the evaporator suffer
from the reduction of air flow; simultaneously, the reduc-
tion of air flow follows a particular trend as it is caused by
the fall of battery voltage.
During the continuous drainage of power from the storage
battery, its voltage exhibits an approximate exponential
decay though its change with time is fairly linear at a low
voltage value. The proposed simulation provides a reason-
able prediction of the discharge process.
During the discharge process, though the compressor runs
at a constant speed, the mass flow rate of the refrigerant
increases marginally. This trend has also been observed else-
where (Datta et al., 2014), while there was a restriction of
air flow through the condenser. This happens due to the ad-
justment of the thermostatic expansion valve.
As expected, the pressure and temperature of the con-
denser rise with the fall of air flow through it due to reduced
cooling of the refrigerant.
115
Though, the pressure of the evaporator does not change ap-
preciably; there is a noticeable fall in the outlet temperature
of the refrigerant through this component. This trend shows
a drastic reduction in the degree of superheat. This should
raise a caution as a certain degree of superheat of the re-
frigerant at the inlet to the compressor is essential for its
protection from damage. Further, at a low flow rate the exit
temperature of air from the evaporator reduces. In extreme
conditions, this may cause frosting.
Operation at a decreased charge level of battery can reduce
the cooling capacity by almost 35%. This is associated with
an approximate increase of 30% load on the compressor.
As a result, there can be a drop in COP as high as 50%.
The low battery voltage can lead to several potential mal-
functioning as well as damage of the battery itself. Further, it
increases the energy demand by the AACS though the cooling
effect is substantially reduced.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of
General Motors India Science Lab Bangalore under the aegis
of the General Motors-IIT Kharagpur Collaborative Research
Laboratory.
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