HELIORA: A SUSTAINABLE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT FOR AUTOMOBILES

Abstract

Consider a car being parked in a parking ground where there is no shade. When the passenger re-enters the car, the passenger will experience the heat and will make them uncomfortable. It is estimated that if a vehicle is fuelled, about 20% of the fuel is spent on the operation of the air-conditioning system. Further, once the air conditioner is turned on, there is an additional load on the compressor due to the heat generated by the greenhouse effect. This increased load on the compressor demands more work input to the compressor which consumes more fuel. To minimize this effect, the air conditioning method is modified using a thermoelectric effect so that the car remains cooled even when left in the sun. This system can be used to support the conventional air conditioning system. This not only reduces the fuel consumption, but also enhances human comfort. This method can also be used in electric vehicles, where the battery can be preserved for travelling longer distances. This project outlines the implementation of photovoltaic driven cooling systems using peltier modules for controlling temperature inside a vehicle. The thermoelectric cooling device works according to the interior conditions of a vehicle. If the atmosphere is hotter than the ambient condition, then it gives the amount of coolness to the interior of the vehicle, without causing any side effects and vice-versa. The thermoelectric cooling device works entirely depends upon the principle of “Peltier effect”.The thermoelectric cooling device simply uses electrons rather than refrigerants as a heat carrier. This cooling or heating system does not contain any moving parts like compressor or solution pumps and also it does not require any condenser, expansion valve, or absorber. So, its design is simple and easy to construct. In this project, the working model of thermoelectric cooling device utilises the required thermo electric modules. The performance of this model is experimentally evaluated with a car cabinet. The present article explains how thermoelectric cooling devices are used in vehicles and its advantages over conventional cooling systems. Thermoelectric cooling devices reduce the use of conventional Air conditioning systems, therefore the effect of skin cancer, fuel consumption, human comfort, ozone depletion potential, and global warming potential reduces. This thermoelectric cooling device is compact in size and it is eco-friendly in nature. Because of all these reasons, the Peltier effect is used in thermoelectric cooling devices.