Climate control system improvements for better cabin environmental conditions and reduction of fuel consumption

Since the beginning the world automotive industry looks for new technologies to improve the passengers' life inside vehicles, to optimize the consumption of fuel and to minimize the emission of pollutant. In the present study improvements in the vehicle acclimatization system for better cabin environmental conditions and reduction of fuel consumption were accomplished. The study included improvements in the air chamber and in the refrigeration cycle and was accomplished in a off-road vehicle model, with a bi-fuel engine of 1600 cm³, endowed with an acclimatization system with capacity of 1 TR (usual in this type of automobile). The tests of the acclimatization system performance were executed initially with the conventional system of air conditioning, without any modification (reference system). Along the development of the work modifications were introduced for the determination of the impact of these modifications in the system performance. The results showed that the enhancements made possible improve the environmental conditions in the vehicle cabin, reaching environmental conditions stipulated by the manufacturer - the OEM requirements. Besides, the use of a compressor with pistons with variable displacement presented reduction of fuel consumption around 5% in relation to the compressor with pistons with fixed displacement.