| Title |
Impact of an Automobile Air-Circulator on Thermal Comfort of Rear Passengers |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.6110/KJACR.2021.33.11.589 |
| Keywords |
공기 순환 장치; 풍량; 풍량 배분; 공기 분배 장치; 자동 온도조절; 공조 시스템; 예상 온열 냉감; 예측 불만족율 Air-circulator; Airflow volume; Airflow distribution rate; Air handling unit; Auto-temperature control; HVAC; PMV; PPD |
| Abstract |
Recently, automotive industry in Southeast Asia and India has enlarged and lifestyle has been changed, with time spending in an automotive showing a gradual increase. Accordingly, thermal comfort that passengers feel inside the cabin of an automotive is more important than other region. Current air-conditioning system is dependent on the cool-down performance of an HVAC located inside the front instrument panel that supplies cold air from the front cabin to the rear cabin. Therefore, front seat passengers and rear seat passengers can feel thermal comfort quite differently because of solar radiation through windows, air flow velocities, and blowing air path in the cabin. In this study, to increase thermal comfort for rear passengers, especially those in 2nd row and 3rd row seats, an air-circulator was developed. The air-circulator was subjected to computational fluid analysis to find the appropriate airflow volume, air distribution rate, and air direction for passengers in 2nd row and 3rd row seats. Air-conditioning system cool-down performance, PMV, and subjective evaluation of thermal comfort of vehicle experiments were also carried out. As the result, roof top mounted air-circulator was optimized by computational analysis and experimental study. It was a quite good solution for improving cabin thermal comfort for passengers in 2nd row and 3rd row seats with cost effectiveness and a compact package. |