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ARTICLE INFO
Article ID: 06-11-02-0013
Copyright © 2018
SAE International
doi:10.4271/06-11-02-0013

A Study of an Integrated
HVAC-Vehicle Model for
Automotive Vehicles
Anand Ganesan, Larsen and Toubro Technology Services
Ranu Jaiswal, Larsen and Toubro Technology Services
Anand Pitchaikani, Pitman Engineering Consultants Private Limited

Abstract History
Received: 30 Aug 2017
The objective of this work is to develop an integrated HVAC-VEHICLE model for climate control Revised: 28 Nov 2017
studies. A published lumped parameter based HVAC model has been used as the framework for the Accepted: 17 Dec 2017
HVAC modeling with some modifications to realize the climate control and to improve the robust- e-Available: 18 Apr 2018
ness of the model. R134a (1,1,2,2-Tetrafluoroethane) has been used as the refrigerant fluid in this
study. The stand-alone HVAC model has been compared qualitatively with the experimental works Keywords
available in the literature. The experimental trends of the thermodynamic and performance related Air conditioning,
parameters of HVAC are reasonably well captured by the HVAC model. In particular, Coefficient Automotive Vehicles,
of Performance (CoP) was found to decrease with increase in compressor speed and increase in MATLAB/SIMULINK,
ambient temperature but increase with increase in evaporator blower mass flow rate. On the other Climate Control, Fuel
economy, Cooling Capacity,
hand, compressor power was found to increase with increase in the compressor speed and increase
Coefficient of Performance
in the ambient temperature but decrease with increase in the evaporator blower mass flow rate.
(CoP)
The employed HVAC model was found to be insensitive to refrigerant mass and condenser fan mass
flow rate variations. A simplified vehicle model of the rectilinear motion of the vehicle has been Citation
built and integrated with the HVAC model. The entire model was built using MATLAB/SIMULINK.
Ganesan, A., Jaiswal, R., and
The integrated model is capable of computing the fuel economy with and without HVAC. Parametric Pitchaikani, A.,
studies of the integrated model are performed. For the parameters used, the vehicle was found to “A Study of an Integrated
be consuming nearly 25% more fuel when HVAC was operating. Finally, conclusions and recom- HVAC-Vehicle Model for
mendations for further studies are presented. Automotive Vehicles,”
SAE Int. J. Passeng.
Cars – Mech. Syst. 11(2):2018,
doi:10.4271/06-11-02-0013.

ISSN: 1946-3995
e-ISSN: 1946-4002

1
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2 Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018)

Introduction HVAC Model

T
The HVAC model used in this study is that of [4]. For more
he investigations on the automotive air-conditioning details on this model the reader is suggested to refer to this
(HVAC) systems have been going on for a few decades. work. Here the key modeling assumptions and equations
Many articles, both experimental and modeling, are used are provided. At the appropriate contexts, the modifi-
available in the open literature. The emphasis in this area cations made to this model are mentioned. The schematic of
has increased further with the advent of electric and hybrid a HVAC system is shown in Figure 1. It consists of a cabin
electric vehicles. Since in these modern electric vehicles, represented as a control volume (CV1). CV2 and CV4 are the
HVAC derives its power from the battery, optimizing the air and the refrigerant sides of the evaporator respectively.
performance of HVAC becomes even more vital. Similarly CV3 and CV7 respectively represent the air and the
In the HVAC system modeling, approach that is taken refrigerant sides of the condenser. The compressor is repre-
can be broadly classified into two categories (i) Distributed sented as CV5. And finally the expansion valve is represented
modeling and (ii) Lumped parameter modeling. These distinc- by CV6. The flow of refrigerant in condenser and evaporator
tions are primarily associated with how the refrigerant flow is are governed by the basic laws of fluid dynamics, namely,
characterized in the HVAC circuit. In the distributed approach, mass, momentum and energy (see for e.g. [18]). Spatial varia-
the properties are assumed to vary across the length of the tions of the flow properties are neglected. Flow velocities
Heat exchangers (evaporator/condenser). This entails solving are considered to be very small so the momentum equation
the basic fluid mechanics equations (mass, momentum and is neglected. Moreover, the mass flow rate that enters the
energy). On the other hand, lumped parameter modeling char- evaporator/condenser is assumed to be the same as the mass
acterizes a component of the HVAC (e.g. Evaporator) with flow flow rate that leaves it. So mass conservation equation is
quantities without any spatial variation. Hence a component automatically satisfied.
is characterized by ordinary differential equations. [1] and [2] Given these salient assumptions, the following equations
adopted a distributed modeling approach to heat exchangers. describe the dynamics of the HVAC system:
Comparisons with experimental data were also done by them.
[3] using a lumped parameter approach modeled a vapor dT1 1
= éU w Aw (Te - T1 ) + Q 1 + Q h + m
 air c p.air (T2 - T1 ) ùû
compression refrigeration system. All the components were dt ë m1c v .air
modeled in this study. [4], [5] and [6] also performed a modeling Eq. (1)
of the HVAC system using lumped parameter approach. [7]
performed a combined HVAC-Vehicle model study for climate dT2 2 dT
 air c p. air (T1 - T2 ) - Q 4 ùû
= ém - 1 Eq. (2)
control in an automobile. It is worth mentioning here that, in all dt ë ma 2 c v . air dt
the references cited above, even though the goals were the same,
their approaches differ slightly from each other in the level of dT3 1
 airc c p.air (Te - T3 ) ùû
= éëQ 7 + m Eq. (3)
details included in the modeling. For instance, accumulator dt ma 3 c v . air
was modeled by [3] but it was not included in [5].
On experimental front, [8] performed a comprehen- dh4 1
 c ( hb - hd ) + Q 4 ùû
= éëm Eq. (4)
sive parametric study on an automotive air-conditioning dt m4
System. Effects of refrigerant charge level, blower speed and
compressor speed on the thermodynamics and performance h4 = x 4 h4 v + (1 - x 4 ) h4 l Eq. (5)
parameters of the HVAC System are reported. Similarly [9-17]
have all performed experimental studies with emphasis on
the effect of parametric variations on the performance of the
HVAC System. The results of these papers will be discussed  FIGURE 1   Schematic of a HVAC model.
in detail in the Results and Discussion section.
The objectives of this work are to (i) make qualitative
comparisons of the HVAC model of [4] with experimental
works and to (ii) study the performance of HVAC-Vehicle
model. To this end, the mathematical models which govern
these components are described in the following section.
Results and discussions of these models are presented later.

Mathematical Modeling
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The mathematical models used in this work are detailed in

this section. Three main components are: (i) HVAC model (ii)
Cabin climate module and (iii) Vehicle model.
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Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018) 3

dT4 é dh4 / dt ù In Equation 4, m  a has been replaced with m  c and the

=ê ú Eq. (6)
dt ë dh4 / dT4 û sign of Q 4 has been changed. These are the typos in [4]. A PI
control has been used for the expansion valve (Equation 16)
p4 = f (T4 ) Eq. (7) in contrast to what was used in [4]. Use of PID control for
regulating the flow through an expansion valve is not new.
dhd dh4 v dT4 For instance, [19] used PID control for the expansion valve in
= Eq. (8) their study. R134a has been used as the refrigerant fluid since
dt dT4 dt
this is the commonly used refrigerant in automotive HVAC
dTd 1 dhd applications. The thermodynamic properties (1D and 2D)
= Eq. (9) and also the quantities used in the vehicle model section to be
dt c pr dt
described later use the Table look-up and curve fitting features
v d = f ( p4 ,Td ) Eq. (10) available in MATLAB/SIMULINK. Thermodynamic proper-
ties of R134a are taken from [20]. The next section describes
the climate control feature added to the HVAC model. This is
éæ T + T ö ù
Q 4 = UA4 êç 1 2 ÷ - T4 ú Eq. (11) another modification to the model developed by [4].
ëè 2 ø û

a =
Vc wchv Cv Climate Control Module
m Eq. (12)
vd A physical climate control module has been included at the
exit of the airside of the evaporator before the air enters the
é ÷ù
æ n -1 ö
ç cabin. Figure 2 represents the schematic of the climate control
n ê æ P ö è n ø
ú
W cp = Vc wchv p4 1 - ç ÷7
Eq. (13) module. The air from the evaporator enters the module from
1- n ê P ú
êë è 4 ø úû the left. The amount of air flow that enters the module is split
between the path where the heater core is present and the other
æ1ö
ç ÷ path (cold path). The air flow through the heater core will be
æ P öè n ø
hv = 1 + c - c ç 7 ÷ Eq. (14) heated up due to the higher temperature of the heater core.
è P4 ø The air flow split between the two is assumed to be a
function of the blender door (Air mix control damper). And
W cp this blender door position is controlled with a PI control whose
ha = hd + Eq. (15) expressions are given from Equations 26 to 31.
a
m
Assuming the flow velocities to be small, a simple mass
and energy conservation yields the following:
Axv = Ar + P ( DTdsh - DTsh ) + I ò ( DTdsh - DTsh )dt
t
Eq. (16)
0
 air = m
m  hot air + m
 coldair Eq. (26)
é 2 ( p7 - p4 ) ù
1/ 2

 a = Axv ê
m ú Eq. (17) æ T +T ö
vb  hot air *C p* ç 2 heatercore
m ÷ + hheatercore
*
ë û 2
è ø

dh7
= ém
1
 a ( ha - hb ) - Q 7 ùû Eq. (18)
( ) hot air *C p*
Aheatercore Theatercore - T2 = m Eq. (27)
dt ë m7 Theatercoreour

h7 = x7 h7 v + (1 - x7 ) h7 l Eq. (19)  hot air *Theatercore + m

m  coldair *T2 = m
 air *Taircabin Eq. (28)
out in

dT7 é dh7 / dt ù  FIGURE 2   Schematic of the climate control module.

=ê ú Eq. (20)
dt ë dh7 / dT7 û

p7 = f (T7 ) Eq. (21)

dhb dh7 l dT7

= Eq. (22)
dt dT7 dt

Tb = f ( hb ) Eq. (23)
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vb = f (Tb ) Eq. (24)

Q 7 = Q 4 + W cp Eq. (25)
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4 Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018)
And the expressions for the PI control for blender door
position are given by:
Error = Tcabinref - T1 Eq. (29)
t using the wheel radius.
Blenddoorpos = K p* Error + K i * ò Error *dt Eq. (30)
0
where,
 horair
( )
m mission is applied on to the vehicle mass like resistance forces
= f Blenddoorpos Eq. (31)
 air
m through the wheel. There is also a provision to apply brake
Given the blend door position the above ratio can be
interpolated through a table look up procedure. And the
right hand side of the Equation 28 replaces the term m
 air T2
in Equation 1.
Vehicle Model
A simple vehicle system model is required for making vehicle
simulations on a drive cycle input. The overall focus of the
current work is to combine the developed HVAC system model
with a vehicle model so that they can be simulated together
for chosen drive cycles and system parameter sets.
The vehicle model includes sub-systems like engine,
transmission, driveline and chassis. The details required to
be captured in these sub-system models depend on the nature
of the study to be performed using the final vehicle model like
fuel economy, performance, ride & handling, driveability etc.
[21] proposed three types of vehicle models namely forward
dynamic model (FDM), backwards quasi-static model (BQM)
and forward quasi-static model (FQM). Even though these
philosophies are more focused on engine modeling, they
provide good insights on overall modeling approaches. In the
current work, the requirement is for a longitudinal dynamics
vehicle simulation which can be used to predict longitudinal
performance and fuel economy. The tool ADVISOR mentioned
in [22] and its precursor SIMPLEV [23] are good examples of
vehicle simulation models for longitudinal dynamics with
interest in performance and fuel economy. [24] implemented
a vehicle model with right level of details for his subject of
interest covering longitudinal performance of the vehicle.
Vehicle Chassis Model The vehicle chassis model esti-
mates the vehicle speed based on the wheel drive torque,
resistances and other vehicle parameters (vehicle mass,
wheel radius).
The vehicle is considered as a translational mass capable
of having rectilinear motion. This motion is possible due to
wheel’s capability of converting rotary motion into recti-
linear motion. The vehicle resistances that include aerody-
namic drag, roll resistance and viscous friction are computed
as a function of vehicle speed and other related coefficients
as seen in Equation 32. The main role of this model is to
evaluate the road losses which is a sum of aerodynamic drag,
viscous friction losses and rolling losses incurred by the
vehicle in motion. These torques put together is balanced
by the drive torque from engine as shown in Equation 32.
The  neglection of pitch degree of freedom of the vehicle
makes it possible to convert the vehicle resistances acting
through different lines of action to be transferred to along the
road. This makes conversion of resistance forces as torques
t resistive = ( Cd *Vvehicle 2 + Cv *Vvehicle + Cr ) * rwheel Eq. (32)
The drive torque received from the engine through trans-
forces that can decelerate the vehicle. The brake model is also
included as a simple torque source. This torque when applied
to the wheel will bring the vehicle to rest.
t wheel = t vehicleinput - t resistive - t brake Eq. (33)
The vehicle mass is modeled as a translational inertia.
The various forces acting on it are the resistance forces, drive
torque and brake forces. These forces can be converted from
torques to forces by the moment arm in terms of wheel radius.
A balance of these forces imparts acceleration/deceleration
to the vehicle mass and thus vehicle speed can be calculated.
The computed vehicle speed is supplied to transmission to
compute the engine speed.
dVvehicle æ t wheel ö
=ç * ÷ Eq. (34)
dt è rwheel mvehicle ø
Engine Model A simple functional engine model is
required for completing a vehicle model which can be simu-
lated on a drive cycle. The engine model estimates the torque,
speed and fuel consumption based on the operating conditions
that the vehicle imposes on it. The main external input for the
engine is the throttle command from the driver. The engine
model must cater to two important vehicles operating modes
namely idling and drive mode. In the idling mode, the vehicle
is in rest and engine alone is running providing power to the
accessories (alternator, HVAC etc.). The drive mode is when
the engine is coupled with driveline and powers the vehicle
to move through wheels along with catering to the needs of
accessories. The engine model’s main characteristic is the
torque speed curve for various throttle as shown in Figure 3.
This is provided to the model as a 2-D table data.
t engine = f ( wengine ,Throttle ) Eq. (35)
The other important aspect of the engine model is the
fuel consumption. Fuel consumption data is available as a
function of speed and torque as shown in Figure 4. This can
be represented as a 2-D data table in the model. The engine
data is taken from the ADVISOR tool that suits the vehicle
size that has been modeled.
bsfc engine = f ( wengine ,t engine ) Eq. (36)
Additional details required in the engine model are the
engine idle control functionality and clutch functionality.
The idle functionality will maintain the engine speed at a
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 FIGURE 3   Engine torque-speed characteristics. speed to drive mode computed engine speed. If this is not
handled well, the vehicle may not launch properly from rest.
When the model comes out of idle to drive condition, the
engine speed is equated to transmission input speed which
is computed based on vehicle speed and various ratios in
the driveline.
wengine = wtransmissioninpur
( DRIVEmode - if the vehicleisnotinidlee condition )
Eq. (38)

Transmission Model The transmission model estimates

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the torque amplification due to gearing and estimates engine

side speed based on vehicle speed. A manual transmission is
considered for modeling in this study.
The gear number is the main input for this model as it
represents the gear ratio. Based on the gear number, the trans-
mission will operate at a definite gear ratio. Relation between
 FIGURE 4   Engine fuel consumption data.
gear command and gear ratio is given in Figure 5.
ratiogear = f ( gearcommand ) Eq. (39)
This model amplifies the net engine torque (HVAC load
torque deducted) to drive the vehicle model. The engine
torque is transformed using the gear ratio and supplied as
drive torque to the vehicle. The manual transmission can be
assumed to operate with a constant efficiency as losses are
straight forward unlike automatic transmissions. This has
been captured in the torque related Equation 40.
The vehicle speed is multiplied by gear ratios to compute
the engine speed that can be sent as outputs.
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t transmissionoutput = t engine *ratiogear *ratio finaldrive *e Eq. (40)

æ wengine*ratiogear *ratio finaldrive ö

wtransmissioninput = çç ÷÷ Eq. (41)
è rwheel ø
pre-defined value when it is not connected with the rest of
the driveline. The clutch functionality will handle the transi- Gear shift schedule model need to be introduced which
tion between idle mode and drive mode or the launch of the can handle the ‘up-shift’ and ‘down-shift’ of gear condition
vehicle from rest. based on the vehicle speed and throttle. This will make sure
The Idle control is enabled when neutral gear is on or that the vehicle operates in appropriate gear in the various
throttle is close to 0. Idle control models engine inertia and
computes the engine speed as a function of engine inertia  FIGURE 5   Gear ratio data.
and varying HVAC load. The model will use engine speed
calculated by idle control when the engine is on idle (throttle
<0.1 or gear <1). The load torque for the engine is the torque
that is consumed by the vehicle and other accessories. The
traction torque is an example of torque consumed by the
vehicle. The HVAC compressor torque is an example of
torque consumed by accessories. In idle mode, vehicle related
load does not exist.

dwengine æ t engine - t load ö

=ç ÷÷
dt ç I engine
è ø
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Eq. (37)
( IDLE mode - if the vehiccle is in idle )
The clutch is modeled as a first order transfer function
that handles transition from idle mode computed engine
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6 Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018)

sections of the drive cycle. This is done based on the throttle  FIGURE 6   Temperature and pressure variations with
command as well as vehicle speed. compressor speed.

Driver Model A simple driver model is required for issuing

commands like throttle and brake to the vehicle model which
can be simulated on a drive cycle. The driver model must
estimate the throttle (input to the engine) and brake (input to
the vehicle chassis) based on the reference drive cycle (Urban
drive cycle) that the model imposes on it. The drive cycle used

© SAE International
is referred to as EUDC per [25].
This model takes simulation time and vehicle speed as
inputs. Based on the difference between reference vehicle speed
and actual vehicle speed, it predicts the value of throttle/brake
profile with the help of PID controller. The PID controller
output is limited by limiter, which is split into positive and
negative signal. Finally, the positive limiter output is the  FIGURE 7   Cooling capacity and compressor power
throttle signal and negative limiter output is the brake signal. variations with compressor speed.

Results and Discussions

Models described above were implemented using MATLAB/
SIMULINK. The SIMULINK blocks of the entire HVAC-

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Vehicle model are provided in Appendix B. This section consists
of the results of (i) HVAC model and (ii) HVAC-Vehicle model.

HVAC Model
Given the number of parameters that are involved in the
 FIGURE 8   Compressor mass flow rate and CoP variations
aforementioned models, it is difficult to make quantita-
tive comparisons with the experimental works. Given this with compressor speed.
scenario, a set of parameters (approximately) representing
a passenger car (please see Appendix A for the values used)
was created and a qualitative comparison is made with the
available experimental works. Instead of obtaining the heat
transfer coefficients using the empirical correlations, internal
(unpublished) data is used. Three parameters were varied,
namely, compressor speed, evaporator airf low rate and
© SAE International
ambient temperature whose results and comparisons with
experiments are given. For blower speed, a linear variation
was assumed between the blower speed and the mass flow
rate with slope determined by Nblowermax and m  max . It is noted
that for lack of better initial conditions for the HVAC model
equations, all the temperatures involved in the HVAC model [11] have reported, among other quantities, CoP and cooling
are set to the ambient temperature (with the corresponding capacity variations. The trends observed here compare favor-
enthalpies from the thermodynamic tables). ably with their results. [13] reported a monotonic decrease in
The effect of varying the compressor speed on various CoP which is what is observed in this work. But the cooling
parameters are shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8. capacity in their work remains pretty much constant which is
The blower speed was set at 2000 rpm and the ambient not the case in this work. The variations reported by [14] are
temperature was maintained at 30 °C. The trends observed, pretty much consistent with what is found here.
as a function of compressor speed, for all the quantities are The effect of varying the evaporator airf low rate is
consistent with that found in [8]. [9] have also reported results presented in Figures 9, 10 and 11 respectively. The compressor
for different compressor speeds. No significant variations in speed was set at 25 rps and the ambient temperature was
the evaporator pressure was noted by them as a function of maintained at 30 °C. The trends observed in these results
the compressor speed. The trends of CoP and cooling capacity are consistent with the trends in the results reported by [8]
reported in the current work are consistent with that of [9]. except for the evaporator pressure and temperature which
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 FIGURE 9   Temperature and pressure variations with The effect of varying the ambient temperature is presented
blower mass flowrate (compressor speed = 25 rps; amb. in Figures 12, 13 and 14. The blower speed was set at 2000 rpm
temp = 30 °C). and the compressor speed was set at 25 rps. [14] have reported
the effect of ambient temperature on the cooling capacity,
compressor power, CoP, condenser temperature, evaporator
pressure and refrigerant flow rate. It is worth mentioning here
that a curve fit was used about the experimental points in
their work so a clear trend could not be inferred for the CoP
variation. Also the ambient temperature range in which their
study was performed was around 14-20 °C. It is well known
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(see for e.g. [26]) that CoP degrades with the increase in the

 FIGURE 12   Temperature and pressure variations with

ambient temperature (compressor speed = 25 rps; blower
 FIGURE 10   Cooling capacity and compressor power
speed = 2000 rpm).
variations with blower mass flow rate (compressor
speed = 25 rps; amb. temp. = 30 °C).

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 FIGURE 13   Cooling capacity and compressor power

variations with ambient temperature (compressor speed = 25
rps; blower speed = 2000 rpm).
 FIGURE 11   Compressor mass flowrate and CoP variations
with blower mass flow rate (compressor speed = 25 rps; amb.
temp = 30 ° C).
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 FIGURE 14   Compressor mass flowrate and CoP variations

with ambient temperature (compressor speed = 25 rps; blower
speed = 2000 rpm).
have not shown any significant variation. But for other set
of parameters (not reported here) increase in the evaporator
pressure and temperature was observed. The trends observed
in Figures 10 and 11 are consistent with that observed in the
results of [8]. [12] reported the variations of power consump-
tion, CoP and cooling capacity as a function of blower mass
flow rate. The CoP and cooling capacity trends are consis-
© SAE International

tent with what is reported here. But the power consumption

in their work involves contributions from condenser fan
power and others. So a direct comparison (even qualitative)
is not possible.
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8 Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018)

ambient temperature. But this trend is not evident in [14]. This  FIGURE 15   Schematic of an integrated
could be due to the low temperature range in which the testing HVAC-Vehicle model.
was conducted. CoP degradation with ambient temperature
is confirmed in the Figure 14. The trends of refrigerant mass
flow rate is consistent with that reported in [14]. The condenser
temperature and compressor power variations are also consis-
tent with what is reported by them.
The effect of condenser mass flow rate variation was also
attempted. But HVAC model was insensitive to this change.

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An exact reason for this inertness to the condenser mass
flow rate variation is not clear. The condenser heat exchange
rate Q 7 is determined by the global energy conservation
(Equation 25) and not by the flow and geometric properties
of the condenser. Interestingly, [4] seems to be the only one,
among the lumped parameter model developers, to have used
this condition. So any local change in the condenser is not felt
 FIGURE 16   European drive cycle (Urban drive cycle).
by the condenser and hence by the other components. An
attempt was made to have an expression for the condenser heat
exchange rate similar to that for the evaporator (Equation 11).
Such an expression was used by [4] for condenser during off-
cycle periods. As expected, the model was responsive to the
condenser mass flow rate variation, but the refrigerant mass
flow rates to condenser and evaporator were very different
at steady state. Also the amount of heat that was added and
extracted from the refrigerant was very different. And this
disparity increased with increase in compressor speed. Hence

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this option was not pursued. Notwithstanding the qualitative
nature of the comparisons in this section, some representative
experimental data are included in some of the figures from
Figures 6 to 14. Since no climate control information could
be found in the experiments, the climate control module was
not included in this section. combination was found to be robust for all the values of the
compressor speed.
Figure 17 shows the effect of compressor gear ratio on
HVAC-Vehicle Model the cabin temperature. As the gear ratio increases, the cabin
A schematic of the integration of the HVAC model with the temperature increases, although marginally. This is to be
vehicle model is provided in Figure 15. The input to the HVAC expected, since the higher ratio means the compressor speed
model is the compressor speed which will be provided by the will reduce. As can be seen from Figure 8, the refrigerant
vehicle model and the load of the compressor is provided to the mass flow rate decreases (also the cooling capacity) as the
vehicle model. Thus a two-way coupling between the HVAC compressor speed decreases and hence the temperature inside
and the vehicle model is established. the cabin increases.
A standard drive cycle, New European Drive Cycle
(NEDC) has been taken to represent the vehicle motion. This  FIGURE 17   Cabin temperature variation with compressor
is shown in Figure 16. As described in the Vehicle model gear ratio (no control).
section before, the desired drive cycle is achieved using a PID
controller in the driver model. It is noted that when vehicle
is operating in this mode, the compressor speed provided
by the vehicle model will vary as a function of time. For low
values of compressor speed, the condenser heat transfer rate
is computed (as given in [4]) by
é æ T + T3 ö ù
Q 7 = U 7 A7 êT7 - ç e ÷ ú Eq. (42)
ë è 2 øû
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This is necessary only for a short period of time during

the start and at the end of the drive cycle. And for the rest of
the time, Equation 25 is used to compute the condenser heat
transfer rate. Based on the numerical experimentation, this
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Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018) 9
Figure 18 shows the effect of compressor gear ratio on
the fuel economy. There is a marginal improvement in the
fuel economy. The reason could be inferred from the Figure 7.
The compressor power decreases with decrease in compressor
speed. Hence the load on the engine from HVAC decreases.
Consequently an improvement in fuel economy should be
expected which is what is observed in Figure 18. No work
could be found in the open literature to compare these
results obtained here. Nevertheless, such results highlight
the usefulness of system level modeling, especially during the
preliminary design phase, notwithstanding the simplifications
involved in the modeling process.
Figure 19 shows the effect of evaporator blower speed
on the fuel economy. A marginal improvement in the
fuel economy is observed. Once again, the reason can be
inferred from Figure 10. The compressor power decreases
with increase in the blower mass flow rate. Consequently the
load on the engine reduces which explains the improvement
in the fuel economy. Figure 20 shows the effect of different
blower speeds on the cabin cooling. If we were to choose the
best blower setting out of these possibilities, it is not obvious
as to which one should be chosen. There does not seem to
be a parameter which would guide us in choosing the best
 FIGURE 18   Fuel economy variation with compressor gear
ratio (no control).
© SAE International
 FIGURE 19   Variation in fuel economy with the blower
speed (with climate control).
© SAE International
© 2018 SAE International. All Rights Reserved.
 FIGURE 20   Cabin temperature variation with time (with
climate control).
© SAE International
one. To this end, the following Control Effectiveness Measure
(CEM) is defined:
CEM =
ABS ( ò T dt - T
Tf
0
1 cabinref Tf ) Eq. (43)
Tf
where ABS is the absolute value. The idea behind such a
definition is as follows: An ideal controller is the one which
would provide the desired temperature right from the outset.
With respect to Figure 20, it would be the area of the rectangle
bounded by the dashed line, X-axis, Y-axis and the final time
of the simulation Tf. And the actual controller’s measure is
the area under the curve for a given blower speed. So the best
controller is the one whose CEM is the lowest. With reference
to Figure 20, computing the CEM expression given above
indicates that the blower speed of 1800 rpm is the best, albeit
marginally. Yet another definition for CEM could be to reduce
the square of the deviation from the desired temperature.
That is
Tf 2
éT1 - Tcabin ù dt
CEM =
ò 0 ë ref û
Eq. (44)
Tf
Again with reference to Figure 20, computing the CEM
expression given above indicates that the blower speed of
2200 rpm is the best, albeit marginally. A linear weighted
combination of Equations 43 and 44 can also be used as a
CEM. The fuel economy reduces roughly by 25% when HVAC
is operated. This estimate was obtained when HVAC was
running at a blower speed of 2000 rpm and ambient tempera-
ture set at 30 °C. The drive profile of the vehicle was as given
in Figure 16. And the rest of the parameters are as given in
Appendix A.
Conclusions
A HVAC model and a Vehicle model were developed. A system-
atic qualitative comparison of the HVAC model was made
with the experimental works. The trends of various param-
eters correspond favorably with the experiments for HVAC.
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10 Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018)
Although, varying condenser mass flow rate did not affect
the results significantly. Another drawback of the current
HVAC model is its inability to predict the effect of refrigerant
charge level variation on the flow and performance param-
eters. The reason can be immediately seen from Equations 4
and 18. Under steady state, m4 and m7 (refrigerant masses in
the evaporator and condenser respectively) don’t influence
the equations at all. It would seem that, this would be the case
for lumped parameter based HVAC models reported in the
literature. On the other hand, distributed modeling approach
might be able to predict the effect of refrigerant charge on the
performance of the System. The effect of refrigerant charge
level on the performance of HVAC was studied by [8], [11],
[13], [15], [16] and [17]. With respect to the refrigerant charge
variation, the conclusions are mixed. There have been reports
of no effect of the refrigerant charge level to the possibility of
an optimal charge quantity (which need not necessarily be
the recommended charge quantity by the hardware manu-
facturer!) with respect to the HVAC performance parameters.
Integrated HVAC-Vehicle model parametric studies were
conducted (with and without control). Although, comparisons
(even qualitative) could not be made due to lack of informa-
tion available in the open literature, plausible reasons could
be inferred based on the HVAC model parametric studies
done in this work. The following section summarizes the key
findings and results of this work:
•• Increase in condenser pressure and temperature and
decrease in evaporator pressure and temperature with
increase in compressor speed. CoP decreases with the
increase in compressor speed.
•• For the parameters reported here, no significant
variation in evaporator pressure and temperature
with blower mass flow rate is obtained. A decrease in
condenser pressure and temperature with increase
in evaporator air mass flow rate was observed. But
increase in evaporator pressure and temperature was
observed with increase in evaporator air mass flow rate
for a certain set of parameters not reported here. CoP
increases with increase in evaporator air mass flow rate.
•• CoP degradation with increase in ambient temperature
is captured well by the model.
•• The employed HVAC model cannot predict the effect of
charge level variation.
•• Fuel economy is marginally improved with increase in
blower mass flow rate and compressor gear ratio.
Recommendations
Given the simplifications involved in the modeling process
there is obviously scope for improvements. The key points
that require attention are given below:
•• The HVAC model should be able to predict the effect
of variation of refrigerant charge level. Distributed
modeling might be able to predict the effect of the
charge level variation. Also, the effect of varying
condenser related parameters should be able to
be studied. Even though the latter one is possible
within the context of [4]‘s model, it is not suitable
for integration with a vehicle model because of the
disparity between the energy extracted and added in
the refrigerant.
•• A design sensitivity study can be done on either the
stand alone HVAC or HVAC-Vehicle model. For
instance, let us assume that we want to minimize
the CEM (Equation 43 or 44). Let us say, we choose
to study the impact of varying the evaporator’s area,
compressor swept volume and compressor speed on
the CEM. We can get the sensitivity gradients by
perturbing the model about an operating point and
compute the gradient using finite difference technique.
This gradient computing procedure is basically the
same as what is done in a gradient based optimization
procedure (see for e.g. [27]). A sensitivity “map” can
be created by doing the sensitivity analysis for several
operating points of HVAC. This will be a valuable
source of information in a HVAC designer’s hands. But
the efficacy of such an analysis is very much dependent
on the fidelity of the basic model. Based on our
experience, notwithstanding the shortcomings of the
HVAC model employed, we believe that the integrated
model studied in this work can be used for sensitivity
analysis. No major tuning of the model was found
to be necessary, except for tuning PIDs employed in
the work. But having good quality experimental data
would greatly help in the modeling process.
Author Affiliation
Ranu Jaiswal, Larsen & Toubro Technology Services,
Chennai, India
Anand Ganesan, Larsen & Toubro Technology Services,
Chennai, India
Anand Pitchaikani, Pitman Engineering Consultants Pvt.
Ltd. India
Contact Information
Anand Ganesan, Ph.D.
Work Phone: 0914466301489
anand.g@lnttechservices.com/anandganesan74@hotmail.com
Acknowledgements
Ranu Jaiswal and Anand Ganesan would like to gratefully
acknowledge Principal Technology Leader, Mr. GB. Pon
Manivannan, for supporting this work. Also, it is a pleasure to
acknowledge Mr. M. Ranjith Kumar for his help in preparing
the experimental data for HVAC related figures.
© 2018 SAE International. All Rights Reserved.
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Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018) 11
Nomenclature
HVAC
A4 - Heat exchange area of evaporator
A7 - Heat exchange area of condenser
Ar - Set point of expansion valve opening area corresponding
to ΔTdsh
Aw - Total surface area of walls of controlled ambient
A xv - Expansion valve opening area
c - Dead volume ratio in the compressor
CoP - Coefficient of Performance ( = Q 4 / W cp )
Cv - Compressor volumetric coefficient
cpr - Specific heat of refrigerant at constant pressure
cp.air - Specific heat of refrigerant at constant pressure
cv.air - Specific heat of refrigerant at constant volume
EUDC - European Urban Drive Cycle
h4 - Space-averaged specific enthalpy in evaporator
h7 - Space-averaged specific enthalpy in condenser
h4l - Specific enthalpy of saturated liquid at evapo­r ating
temperature
h4v - Specific enthalpy of saturated vapour at evaporating
temperature
h7l - Specific enthalpy of saturated liquid at condensing
temperature
h7v - Specific enthalpy of saturated vapour at condensing
temperature
ha - Specific enthalpy at compressor outlet
hb - Specific enthalpy at condenser outlet
hd - Specific enthalpy at evaporator outlet
I - Expansion valve PID integral gain
m1 - Mass of air in controlled ambient
m4 - Mass of refrigerant in evaporator
m7 - Mass of refrigerant in condenser
ma2 - Mass of air in air side of evaporator
ma3 - Mass of air in air side of condenser
m a - Refrigerant mass f lowrate calculated at compressor
outlet
m c efrigerant mass f lowrate calculated at expansion
- R

valve outlet
m air - Air mass flowrate across evaporator
m airc - Air mass flowrate across condenser
n - Polytropic coefficient
P - Expansion valve PID proportional gain
PI - Proportional Integral Controller
p4 - Average pressure of refrigerant in evaporator
p7 - Average pressure of refrigerant in condenser
Nblower - Set blower speed
© 2018 SAE International. All Rights Reserved.
Nblowermax - 
M aximum blower speed corresponding to
maximum blower air flowrate
Q1 - Thermal load in controlled ambient, except for heat rate
across walls
 - Evaporator heat rate or cooling capacity
Q 4
 - Condenser heat capacity
Q 7
 - Thermal load of human (1 Driver+3 Passengers)
Q h
T1 - Average temperature of controlled ambient
T2 - Air-side temperature at evaporator outlet, 2Tcv2-T1
T3 - Air-side temperature at condenser outlet, 2Tcv3-Te
T4 - Average temperature of refrigerant in evaporator
T7 - Average temperature of refrigerant in condenser
Tb - Refrigerant temperature at condenser
Td - Refrigerant temperature at evaporator outlet
Te - Exterior temperature
Tcv2 - Average temperature of air side of evaporator
Tcv3 - Average temperature of air side of condenser
U - Heat transfer coefficient of evaporator
U7 - Heat transfer coefficient of condenser
Uw -  G lobal heat transfer coefficient across walls of
controlled ambient
vb - Specific volume of refrigerant at input of expansion valve
Vc - Volumetric displacement of compressor
vd - Specific volume of refrigerant at input of compressor
W cp - Compressor power
x4 - Average quality of refrigerant in evaporator
x7 - Average quality of refrigerant in condenser
ΔTdsh - Desired degree of superheat
ΔTsc - Degree of subcooling at condenser outlet, T7-Tb
ΔTsh - Instantaneous degree of superheat at evaporator outlet,
Td-T4
ηv - Volumetric efficiency of compressor
ωc - Revolutions per second of compressor
Integrated Model
Aheatercore - Effective heat transfer area of heater element
bsfcengine - Brake specific fuel consumption of the vehicle
Blenddoorpos - Position of blend door
Cd - Coefficient of drag for vehicle
Cr - coefficient of rolling friction for vehicle
Cv - Coefficient of viscous friction for vehicle
Error - Difference between reference and controlled signal
gearcommand - Gear command from the driver
hheatercore - Heat transfer coefficient of heater element
Iengine - Moment of inertia of the Engine
Ki - Integral gain of climate controller
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12 Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018)
Kp - Proportional gain of climate controller
m max - maximum air flowrate of blower
mvehicle - Mass of the vehicle
m hotair - Air mass flowrate through the heater element
m coldair - Air mass flowrate that does not pass through heater
 air - m
element, m  hot air
r wheel - radius of wheel
ratiogear - Gear ratio of the gear box
ratiofinaldrive - Final drive gear ratio
Throttle - Throttle value
T - Final simulation time
Taircabin - Temperature of air entering cabin
in
Tcabinref - Temperature set from the controller
Theatercore - Temperature of heater element
Theatercore - Temperature of heated air
out
Vvehicle - Linear speed of the vehicle
τbrake - Brake torque
τengine - Engine output torque
τload - HVAC load on the Engine
τresistive - Total resistive torque
τvehicleinput - Drive torque from engine
τ wheel - Net driving torque
ωengine - Engine Speed
ωtransmissioninput - Transmission input speed
τtransmissionoutput - Transmission output torque
ε - Efficiency of transmission system
References
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Appendix A
HVAC and Climate Controller Data
Uw = 10 W m−2 k−1; Aw = 5 m2; Te = 30°C; Q 1 = 1200 W  ; Q h = 75 * 4 Watt; cp.air = 1005 J kg−1 K−1; cv.air = 716 J kg−1 K−1; m1 =
7 kg; ma2 = 0.04 kg; A4 = 0.1 m2; m4 = 0.05 kg; x4  = 0.7; Cpr = 612 J kg−1 K−1; Vc = 7 × 10−5 m3; Cv = 0.808; n = 1.5; c = 0.05;
 air .c = 0.5 kg s -1; ma3 = 0.15 kg; A7  = 0.25  m2; m7 = 0.025 kg; x7 = 0.5; ΔTdsh = 9; Ar = 10−7; P = 10−7 m2 K−1; I = 10−8 m2 K−1 s−1;
m
 max = 0.1845 kg / s; Tamb = Te; Nblower = 2000 rpm; Nblowermax = 3450 rpm; hheatercore = 120 W m−2k−1;Aheatercore = 0.0628 m2;
m
Theatercore = 80°C; Kp = 5; Ki = 0.5

Vehicle Data
a = 147; b = 1.674; c = 0.2916; r wheel = 0.3 m; Iengine = 0.07 kg m2; mvehicle = 1250 kg; ratiofinaldrive = 0.3; ε = 0.97, PDriver = 1;
IDriver = 0.0015B.

Appendix B
 FIGURE 21   HVAC-vehicle integrated Simulink model.
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14 Ganesan et al. / SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst / Volume 11, Issue 2 (April 2018)

 FIGURE 22   Vehicle Simulink model.

© SAE International
 FIGURE 23   HVAC-climate controller integrated Simulink model.

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 FIGURE 24   HVAC Simulink model.

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