Development of lamella heat exchanger intake charge air cooling using vehicle air-conditioning system

The high intake air temperature for engines, caused by the rise in ambient temperature and through the usage of compression devices, has a detrimental impact on performance parameters (power, torque, fuel consumption, and exhaust emissions) due to less oxygen molecules available in the air-fuel ratio for complete combustion. To rectify this matter, the engine intake charge air cooling (EICAC) technique through intercooler heat exchanger (IHE) is the best solution without modifying the engine itself. Previous studies explained that the traditional intercoolers available in the market are less efficient, non-operational in vehicle slow driving speed or stand-still operation, and incompatible for naturally aspirated engine due to their dependence on ambient conditions. Further the innovative cooling devices has complex designs, required additional cooling circuits, modifications in engine setup, offers shallow thermal capacity compared to design sizes with a high pressure drop in airflow, which is undesirable. Therefore, there is a need of a better IHE to overcome the said limitations in prior art inventions. In this regard, a new Lamella heat exchanger (LHE) is developed to operate as an intercooler for a 1.5L naturally aspirated Proton-Wira SI-engine (four-stroke, four-cylinder), using stainless steel metal 316L. A coolant source (refrigerant) is utilized from vehicle air conditioning (VAC) system due to its high heat transfer property. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations through ANSYS FLUENT software are performed to analyze the proposed model of LHE regarding the thermal capacity and pressure drop at various engine speeds (Rpm 1000 to 8000, with an increment of 500) and intake temperatures (40℃, 45℃, 50℃ and 55℃). The admirable amount of heat transfer and temperature drop ranges between 0.42kW to 2.14kW and 15.8℃ to 46℃ respectively, with minimal pressure drop of 0.004 kpa to 0.095 kpa, is recorded, which made LHE is distinctive among the available intercoolers. The experimental investigation is carried out to see the actual influence of LHE on the test vehicle, using the chassis dynamometer test bench. Operating the AC of a test vehicle with ambient air results in high exhaust emissions by 67%, 8%, 21%, and 7% for CO, CO2, HC and NOX respectively, increased fuel consumption by 32.3%, loss in engine power and torque by 14% and 13% respectively, compared to the normal stage without AC and LHE. The cold intake air introduced a significant result in terms of reduced exhaust emissions and improved engine power and torque. The amount of lost power and torque due to AC are recovered by 17 % and 24% respectively, by bringing the cold intake air into an engine. Similarly, the increased quantities of exhaust tailpipe emissions specifically due to AC operation is lowered by 43.6%, 39.5%, 47.3%, 64.5% for CO, CO2, HC and NOx respectively. In conclusion, LHE has successfully enhanced the performance of test vehicle as EICAC technique.

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