| dc.description.abstract | A parked vehicle cabin can be
treated as a nearly closed volume. So, when an
automobile is parked under sunlight the solar
radiation heats the interior to extensive
temperatures of above 60°C. These extreme
temperatures reduce the cabin thermal
comfort of the occupants, especially until the
automobile’s in-built cooling system brings
the temperature to a comfortable level. The
extreme temperatures in the cabin have also
led to several heatstroke victims and even
deaths of occupants in parked automobiles.
These extreme conditions also degrade cabin
materials. This research focuses on developing
partly portable cooling equipment based on
the vapor compression refrigerant cycle that is
powered by solar energy for a car cabin.
The equipment was sized for a Suzuki Wagon
R – 2015 automobile, based on the local heat
loads that were gained in this research. Also,
two Computer simulations were done to
determine the cabin conditions with and
without the designed equipment. Further
verifications of these results were done by
testing a prototype of the design.
The results from computer simulations and
test results both confirm the reduction in
cabin temperature to below 44°C. Further
developments are necessary for this model to
make the parked car cabin completely safe for
occupants. With the current results gained
using the prototype developed, the car cabin
thermal comfort has increased by a huge
margin, where the temperature has reduced
from above 60°C to below 44°C. This paper
focuses on the simulation segment of the
research conducted. | en_US |
