The use of Electrically-driven Compressor in Achieving Efficient and ‘Green’ Air-Conditioning System in Automobiles

A ‘green’ classification is designated to a vehicle when it is considered as a low contributor to environmental pollution and this is achieved largely by reducing its overall fuel consumption. A vehicle’s green air conditioning system is independent of the engine crankshaft drive where its compressor is driven by an electric motor, powered by a 12-volt lead-acid electrical battery. A typical conventional air-conditioner (CAC) is driven by an engine via a pulley system which the compressor speed is directly proportional to the engine speed thus the cooling capacity will vary as the engine speed changes. The current research activities focuses on the development of an electrically-driven compressor (EDC) for CAC system. The thorough comparative assessments include the performance of cabin temperature, cooling capacity, compressor power consumption and coefficient of performance (COP). The EDC has been tested at variable speed of 1800, 2000, 2200, 2400 and 2500 rpm and the internal heat loads was set at 1000 W. The set-point temperature during the experiments was 21, 22 and 23°C respectively. The overall experimental results show that the performance of EDC is better than that of the CAC system throughout the speed range, offers an opportunity to improve the overall energy utilization.