Design and Experimental Evaluation of Low-Energy-Consumption Air-Conditioned Seat for Light Electric Vehicles

Jer-Jia Sheu1, Tong-Bou Chang2 and Jhong-Wei Huang1

1. Department of Mechanical Engineering,Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan

2. Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan

Abstract: The present study proposes a novel air-conditioned seat system with a maximum energy consumption of just 140 W. In the proposed system, cold air is released from a mini air-conditioning unit placed behind the seat and is circulated around an air-conditioned cover positioned around the driver and attached to the seat by means of Velcro fasteners. The thermal comfort and cool-down performance of the proposed system are evaluated by means of experimental investigations. It is shown that the thermal comfort index (PMV) of the seat has a value in the range of -1 to +1 for four typical human metabolic rates. Moreover, the results confirm that a stable temperature 8.5°C lower than the environmental temperature can be obtained within 10 minutes. Overall, the results suggest that the proposed system provides a feasible air-conditioning solution for a variety of small-scale vehicles, including personalized light electric vehicles, engineering vehicles (e.g., fork-lift trucks), electric wheelchairs, and so forth.

Key words: energy saving, air-conditioned seat, thermal comfort