Design of a fully automated ventilation system for vehicles subjected to direct sunlight

A study has been conducted to investigate the heat trap phenomenon inside a vehicle’s compartment produced by the temperature rise due to sun radiation, the inside of the cabin will exhibit higher temperature compared to the outside surroundings. The amount of heat trapped in the enclosed compartment will bring various health risks, suffocation and uncomfortable feeling to both the driver and the passengers. More conditioning power is necessary to cope with this phenomenon which can severely shorten the lifetime of the compressor unit. This research is intended to design a ventilation system to lower the inside temperature of the compartment and eliminate the dangers of exposure to this high temperature. The investigation utilizes CFD analysis using ANSYS FLUENT commercial package to determine the best position for an axial flow fan to optimize air distribution, three different positions were considered and the numerical study was assessed with a scaled down prototype and a temperature drop of 26°C was achieved.