A Numerical Model to Evaluate the HVAC Power Demand of Electric Vehicles

There has been a significant increase in demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in recent times due to existing environmental situations and an ever rising concern for energy. Due to the electrification of transportation and customer requirement, there is a concentrated focus on vehicle performance of E...

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Main Authors: Ambarish Kulkarni, Gerrit Brandes, Akhlaqur Rahman, Shuva Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2022-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9869805/
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author Ambarish Kulkarni
Gerrit Brandes
Akhlaqur Rahman
Shuva Paul
author_facet Ambarish Kulkarni
Gerrit Brandes
Akhlaqur Rahman
Shuva Paul
author_sort Ambarish Kulkarni
collection DOAJ
description There has been a significant increase in demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in recent times due to existing environmental situations and an ever rising concern for energy. Due to the electrification of transportation and customer requirement, there is a concentrated focus on vehicle performance of EVs as a prime criterion. Amongst performances, range anxiety caused by the poor energy densities of the batteries, is one of the major drawbacks in these EVs. Possible mitigation for these scenarios includes, increasing the battery capacity, using dual energy sources and/or optimising the energy demands. After the propulsion system, auxiliary systems have an immense impact on the energy demands, the most significant being the heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) unit. With that in mind, this study develops a thermal model to analyse the required HVAC power for varying vehicle specifications. To benefit from the simplicity and versatility of one-dimensional <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(1D)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> numerical models, the passenger cabin of a city bus was modelled in Matlab Simulink. Next, empirical relations were employed to take external convection, wall conduction, solar radiation and passenger heat generation into account. Additionally, the influence of the forced internal convection of the conditioned air flow in the passenger cabin was modelled and analysed in a three-dimensional <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(3D)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CFD simulation and then transferred into the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1D$ </tex-math></inline-formula> model. The results of the CFD simulation were also used to validate the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1D$ </tex-math></inline-formula> model in early stages of development. The model was then used to examine the effect of insulation and reflectivity optimization on the HVAC power consumption at different vehicle speeds. To the best of our knowledge, the model developed in this paper can be used to evaluate the required HVAC power, thus maintaining a required cabin temperature for various heavy vehicle specifications as well as boundary conditions.
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spelling doaj.art-8316122d3f6c4501a3d8166d55b0a53c2022-12-22T02:04:28ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362022-01-0110962399624810.1109/ACCESS.2022.32029209869805A Numerical Model to Evaluate the HVAC Power Demand of Electric VehiclesAmbarish Kulkarni0Gerrit Brandes1Akhlaqur Rahman2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5491-4436Shuva Paul3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4219-4152Department of Mechanical Engineering and Product Design Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, AustraliaDepartment of Vehicle Drives and Transmissions, Technische Universitat Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, GermanyEngineering Institute of Technology, West Perth, WA, AustraliaElectrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USAThere has been a significant increase in demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in recent times due to existing environmental situations and an ever rising concern for energy. Due to the electrification of transportation and customer requirement, there is a concentrated focus on vehicle performance of EVs as a prime criterion. Amongst performances, range anxiety caused by the poor energy densities of the batteries, is one of the major drawbacks in these EVs. Possible mitigation for these scenarios includes, increasing the battery capacity, using dual energy sources and/or optimising the energy demands. After the propulsion system, auxiliary systems have an immense impact on the energy demands, the most significant being the heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) unit. With that in mind, this study develops a thermal model to analyse the required HVAC power for varying vehicle specifications. To benefit from the simplicity and versatility of one-dimensional <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(1D)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> numerical models, the passenger cabin of a city bus was modelled in Matlab Simulink. Next, empirical relations were employed to take external convection, wall conduction, solar radiation and passenger heat generation into account. Additionally, the influence of the forced internal convection of the conditioned air flow in the passenger cabin was modelled and analysed in a three-dimensional <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(3D)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CFD simulation and then transferred into the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1D$ </tex-math></inline-formula> model. The results of the CFD simulation were also used to validate the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1D$ </tex-math></inline-formula> model in early stages of development. The model was then used to examine the effect of insulation and reflectivity optimization on the HVAC power consumption at different vehicle speeds. To the best of our knowledge, the model developed in this paper can be used to evaluate the required HVAC power, thus maintaining a required cabin temperature for various heavy vehicle specifications as well as boundary conditions.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9869805/Heatingventilation and air conditioningvehicle HVACheavy duty electric vehiclebus cabin modelthermal modeling
spellingShingle Ambarish Kulkarni
Gerrit Brandes
Akhlaqur Rahman
Shuva Paul
A Numerical Model to Evaluate the HVAC Power Demand of Electric Vehicles
IEEE Access
Heating
ventilation and air conditioning
vehicle HVAC
heavy duty electric vehicle
bus cabin model
thermal modeling
title A Numerical Model to Evaluate the HVAC Power Demand of Electric Vehicles
title_full A Numerical Model to Evaluate the HVAC Power Demand of Electric Vehicles
title_fullStr A Numerical Model to Evaluate the HVAC Power Demand of Electric Vehicles
title_full_unstemmed A Numerical Model to Evaluate the HVAC Power Demand of Electric Vehicles
title_short A Numerical Model to Evaluate the HVAC Power Demand of Electric Vehicles
title_sort numerical model to evaluate the hvac power demand of electric vehicles
topic Heating
ventilation and air conditioning
vehicle HVAC
heavy duty electric vehicle
bus cabin model
thermal modeling
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9869805/
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