AirCARE: Assessing the Impact of an Integrated Air Purification System on Vehicle Thermal Management

The increasing concentration of atmospheric pollutants in urban environments necessitates innovative solutions to mitigate their impact on public health and the environment. This work presents the AirCARE project, which investigates the integration of a catalytic converter and a particulate filter with a vehicle's radiator to create an active air purification system. The primary objective is to evaluate the feasibility and performance implications of this integrated system on the vehicle's thermal management. A comprehensive methodology combining computational modeling and experimental testing was employed. A 1D longitudinal vehicle model was developed to simulate the powertrain's heat generation and the cooling system's performance under various representative driving conditions. This model allows for a parametric study of the radiator, assessing the impact of the additional components on its heat exchange efficiency. Concurrently, experimental tests were conducted on a radiator to measure the pressure drop across the integrated filter and to validate the heat exchange performance predicted by the simulations. This paper focuses on the results from the vehicle and component-level simulations and the corresponding experimental validation of the radiator's fluid-dynamic and thermal behavior. The results provide a quantitative analysis of the trade-offs between the potential for pollutant abatement and the constraints imposed on the vehicle's cooling system. The study identifies key design parameters and operating conditions that influence system performance, offering insights for optimizing the integration. The findings demonstrate the technical considerations required to implement such a system without compromising vehicle safety and performance, establishing a foundation for the future development of vehicles as mobile air purification platforms.