An Analytical Comparison of Adsorption and Vapor Compression Air Conditioners for Electric Vehicle Applications

Abstract

This paper shows an analysis of the applicability of an adsorption system for electric vehicle (EV) air conditioning. Adsorption systems are designed and optimized to provide the required cooling for four combinations of vehicle characteristics and driving cycles. The resulting adsorption systems are compared with vapor compression air conditioners that can satisfy the cooling load. The objective function is the overall system weight, which includes the cooling system weight and the weight of the battery necessary to provide energy for air conditioner operation. The system with the minimum overall weight is considered to be the best. The results show the optimum values of all the variables, as well as temperatures and amounts adsorbed, for the adsorption and desorption processes. The results indicate that, for the conditions analyzed in this paper, vapor compression air conditioners are superior to adsorption systems, not only because they are lighter, but also because they have a higher COP and are more compact.