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Transient multiphysics modeling of a robotic personal air-conditioning device.

Number: pap. 2302

Author(s) : DHUMANE R., LING J., AUTE V., et al.

Summary

The Roving Comforter (RoCo) is an innovative personal thermal management technology currently being developed at the University of Maryland. It is an ultra-low cost, autonomous, battery powered heat-pump system that provides comfort to a single or multiple individual by discharging conditioned air through adjustable nozzle(s). To minimize the system cost and maximize system performance, careful selection of components is required for battery, robotic platform as well as the cooling mechanism. Hence system level calculations which incorporate thermodynamics, electricity, cost as well as the weight restrictions at the same time is being developed to obtain the optimum design. This paper explores four different cooling mechanisms (chilled water, ice water mixture, melting phase change material and vapor compression cycle) and discusses their potential applications in the RoCo. Preliminary calculations have revealed the chilled water based system to have a lowest bulk manufacturing cost of $173 while the VCC model to have the highest cost of $320. Weights of the prototypes vary from 19.2 kg for the ice water model to 30 kg for the chilled water model. Battery consumption is calculated to be in between 24-26% of total capacity with VCC consuming the highest and ice tank consuming the lowest. The challenges faced in making each mechanism operational are discussed with their possible solutions. System parameters to operate each mechanism for a sample two hour cooling operation are obtained from the model. Finally, one of the concepts is chosen by weighing various advantages and disadvantages to power the cooling mechanism for RoCo. The paper provides insight into tradeoffs from various domains to obtain the final design.

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Pages: 10 p.

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Details

  • Original title: Transient multiphysics modeling of a robotic personal air-conditioning device.
  • Record ID : 30018810
  • Languages: English
  • Source: 2016 Purdue Conferences. 16th International Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2016/07/11

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