Transient thermal model of a vehicle's cabin validated under variable ambient conditions

[EN] This paper presents a lumped-parameter thermal model of the passengers' compartment of a vehicle. The model is completely dynamic and has been thoroughly validated under variable ambient conditions including solar radiation. The proposed model reproduces accurately the warm-up and cool-down of the cabin and can help analyse capacity reduction actions for air-conditioning systems. In this study, the thermal loads have been calculated by means of the model. For the tested minibus in real outdoor conditions, air renewal represents from 7% up to 53% of the thermal load, while the solar radiation accounts for 18% 31%. According to the results, a decrease of 0.2 in the glazing transmissivity can lead to a 3.3% reduction of the installed cooling capacity.This work has been supported by the European Commission under the 7th European Community framework program as part of the ICE project "MagnetoCaloric Refrigeration for Efficient Electric Air-Conditioning", Grant Agreement no. 265434. B. Torregrosa-Jaime acknowledges the Spanish Education, Culture and Sport Ministry (Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte) for receiving the Research Fellowship FPU ref. AP2010-2160.Torregrosa Jaime, B.; Bjurling, F.; Corberán Salvador, JM.; Di Sciullo, F.; Payá Herrero, J. (2015). Transient thermal model of a vehicle's cabin validated under variable ambient conditions. Applied Thermal Engineering. 75:45-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.05.07445537