Understanding the Ins and Outs of the Mobile Air-conditioning System

It’s a pretty powerful feeling isn’t it – adjusting the flow and temperature of the clean, filtered air being delivered to your cab. With the season underway it’s a service you rely on to stay comfortable and even safe. It’s worthwhile developing a basic knowledge of how the air-conditioning system operates because it will also help you to understand system maintenance and service procedures.

First let’s consider heat movement, this occurs in three main ways:

• Conduction – This is the method by which heat is transferred through solid material. Particles heat up at varying rates depending on a material’s thermal conductivity.
• Convection - Convection is the heat transfer means by which the molecules or atoms of a liquid or gas move in a circular motion and carry heat. If for example air that is hotter than the air in a vehicle’s cab is blown into the compartment it will move upwards, forcing down cooler, dense air. This circulation of air, which will eventually distribute the warmer heated air evenly around the vehicle, is known as convection.
• Radiant – Radiant heat is created by the rays of the sun hitting a solid object and causing it to heat up.

Stop to consider these types of heat movement and you start to appreciate the challenge your HVAC system faces in delivering a constant regulated temperature. For example, the large glass windscreen in your cab which is so necessary for visibility is usually poorly insulated. It doesn’t stop there, the vehicle itself is subjected to factors such as radiant heat from the sun’s rays and cold weather, which both impact on a cab’s temperature.

If you visualize a person using a sponge to first soak up, then wring out a spillage, this process is not altogether dissimilar to what’s going on beneath your bonnet. As demonstrated in the expansion valve system pictured, the mobile AC system extracts heat from a vehicle’s passenger compartment and releases it into the atmosphere by using refrigerant which changes state as it repeatedly cycles through a closed (sealed) system.

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Created: 27-04-2020