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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the European Commission (EC) are developing test procedures to regulate mobile air conditioning system (MAC) efficiency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce global warming. In the United States, air conditioning related MAC credits can be earned by implementing an internal heat exchanger (IHX) into a MAC system. By integrating an IHX into a MAC system the, Coefficient of Performance (COP) can be increased at the same time increasing cooling capacity. This improvement in efficiency reduces the energy and/or fuel consumption of the MAC system. This paper will compare various IHX plumbing configurations for a dual evaporator system with R1234yf refrigerant. A MAC system optimized for efficiency as well as evaporator cooling capacity is used to assess these different IHX plumbing configurations.

This paper will examine a mobile air conditioning (MAC) system optimized for efficiency as well as evaporator cooling capacity. Different internal heat exchanger (IHX) capacities and various thermostatic expansion valve (TXV) parameters will be applied using R1234yf refrigerant. Factors that will be considered include IHX heat transfer and pressure drop, TXV superheat setting and slope, the effect of oil in circulation and how these factors impact the efficiency and capacity of the MAC system. The paper describes the test facility used and the test procedures applied.

This paper will examine the various design and performance criteria for optimized internal heat exchanger performance as applied to R134a and HFO-1234yf systems. Factors that will be considered include pressure drop, heat transfer, length, internal surface area, the effect of oil in circulation, and how these factors impact the effectiveness of the heat exchanger. The paper describes the test facility used and test procedures applied. Furthermore, some design parameters for the internal heat exchanger will be recommended for application to each refrigerant.

The purpose of this article is to study current refrigerant emission levels in China with reasonable accuracy of the first year vehicles. This is an initial survey on refrigerant irregular emissions based on JD Power investigation and warranty data from OEMs in 2008. Totally 49 brands and 8881 vehicles were included for the study, covering almost all the kinds of passenger vehicles in China market. Irregular emissions represent the refrigerant losses due to accidents and other environmental-related failures of the mobile AC system. This paper also wants to draw people's attention on irregular refrigerant emissions related to system design and reliability which is not focused yet. According to the calculation of irregular emissions from China vehicles by J.D Power result, the irregular emission is 5.8 g/yr, which can be a reliable number used in the GREEN-MAC-LCCP© model for China vehicles' refrigerant emissions.

The European f-Gas Directive phases out HFC-134a from Mobile Air Conditioning systems (MACs) in new vehicles by 2017. In the US pending California and USEPA regulations have incentives to phase out HFC-134a earlier than 2017. As a result industry is striving to transform all global markets to a single new refrigerant in order to simplify global marketing. One of the global tools to help evaluate alternatives during this transition is the global LCCP (Life Cycle Climate Performance) and the development of the GREENMAC- LCCP© model. This model has become the global standard to measure the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) greenhouse emissions of any proposed alternative refrigerant for MACs starting from bench test results and supporting the car manufacturer choice of the best suitable alternative refrigerant from an environmental perspective.

This paper will compare systematically coaxial and non-coaxial internal heat exchanger types on the component and the system level as applied to R1234yf mobile air conditioning (MAC) systems. Pressure drop, heat transfer rate, effectiveness, and efficiency ratio of the Internal Heat Exchanger (IHX) are compared on the component level for the different heat exchanger types. At the system level, a MAC system optimized for efficiency as well as evaporator cooling capacity is used to assess these different internal heat exchanger types. System level factors that will be discussed include IHX heat transfer rate, pressure drop, compressor efficiency, compressor discharge temperatures, and the impact of these factors on the efficiency and capacity of the MAC system. This paper also describes the test bench used for the system level tests and the testing procedure applied.

The goal of this study is to assess the total Life Cycle Global Warming Impact of the current HFC-134a (R134a) refrigeration system and compare it with the effect of proposed alternatives, HFC-134a Enhanced, HFC-152 (R152a), R744, R744 Enhanced and R290, based on life cycle analysis (LCA). The enhanced systems include control strategies to elevate the compressor suction pressure as the evaporator load is reduced. The hydrofluorocarbons HFC-134a and HFC-152a are greenhouse gases (GHGs) and are subject to the Kyoto Protocol timetables, which when the treaty takes effect will require participating developed countries to reduce their overall CO2 equivalent emissions of six GHGs by at least 5% by 2012 from 1990 levels.

Climate change is a global issue affecting every industry. Automotive companies have been working to address this issue by reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of their vehicles. EPA has encouraged this by providing incentives in the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rule of 2009. Improving the efficiency of MACs (mobile air conditioning systems) is part of this effort. Life-cycle climate performance (LCCP) is a comprehensive metric for estimating the greenhouse gases emissions produced by the construction, operation, and end-of-life recycling of a vehicle MAC (Mobile Air Conditioning) system. Many companies and organizations have conducted LCCP for their vehicles using various software tools.