Optimization of a Localized Air Conditioning System Using Thermoelectric Coolers for Commercial Vehicles

To improve the thermal comfort and energy saving of commercial vehicles, an auxiliary air conditioning (AC) system has been constructed. Several distributed components using thermoelectric coolers were applied in a localized AC system to adjust the microclimate around the driver only. A computational fluid dynamics model of a commercial vehicle cabin with a driver was built, the temperature field of the cabin investigated, and the thermal comfort analyzed. Based on the results of the simulations, the temperature around the cold side of the thermoelectric coolers is discussed and optimized by means of the response surface methodology and a multiobjective genetic algorithm. To validate the simulation and optimization results, a bench test was carried out; the results obtained from the simulation showed good agreement with the experimental results.