Methods and systems for reducing microbial contamination and growth in an automotive HVAC system by irradiating one or more air contacting surfaces of the HVAC system with antimicrobial UV-C light.

A vehicular cooling system is provided which includes a water tank, a cooling unit, a vent unit, a closed loop conduit assembly, and a water pump. The cooling unit includes an evaporative media in the shape of a closed loop structure having a center hole. The evaporative media is gas porous and preferably made of bactericidal wood shavings. The water pump pumps water from the water tank to saturate the evaporative media to provide water-saturated-air. The cooling unit includes an air pump for sucking air through the evaporative media into a vehicle's interior. Advantageously, the vehicular cooling system requires minimal modification of a vehicle structure.

The present invention relates to a catalytic device and a vehicle air conditioning apparatus comprising the same and, more particularly, provides a catalytic device comprising: a case (140); a light source part (120) disposed to face an inner side of the case (140) so as to radiate light toward an inner surface of the case (140); and a catalyst part (130) which is disposed on the inner surface of the case (140) and in which a photocatalytic reaction is induced by light radiated from the light source part (120), wherein the catalyst part (130) is located at a first separation distance (L) from the light source part (120) in order that a maximum light energy (Pmax) of the light source part (120) is focused thereon.

The present invention relates to a photocatalytic apparatus and a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment for a vehicle comprising the same and, more specifically, to a photocatalytic apparatus and HVAC equipment for a vehicle comprising the same, wherein the photocatalytic apparatus may sterilize and deodorize an evaporator in addition to purifying air introduced into an HVAC case and may continuously maintain sterilization and deodorization functions by efficiently radiating heat generated from the photocatalytic apparatus.

A control system for a vehicle includes an odor sensor disposed at a vehicle and operable to sense odors exterior of the vehicle. A controller is operable to control an external air intake actuator of the vehicle. The controller receives an input from the odor sensor and, responsive to the controller determining that a sensed odor is above a threshold odor level, the controller actuates the external air intake actuator to close the external air intake. The controller, responsive to actuation of a user input and a global positioning system of the vehicle, may save a geographical location as a bad odor zone and may actuate the external air intake actuator as the vehicle approaches the bad odor zone during subsequent drives of the vehicle along that road.

Disclosed is a coating composition for preventing odor. The coating composition may include one or more types of odorless microorganisms selected from the group consisting of Caulobacter vibrioides, Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, Bradyrhizobium daqingense and Methylobacterium brachiatum or a culture solution thereof. Further provided is a method for preventing odor, and the method may include applying the coating composition for preventing odor. When a biofilm is formed from the microorganisms in the coating composition by coating an object on which an odor-causing microorganism can live, the inflow and the inhabitation of external microorganisms generating odor may be significantly blocked, thereby enabling odor to be effectively prevented.

The present invention relates to a photocatalytic apparatus and a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment for a vehicle comprising the same and, more specifically, to a photocatalytic apparatus and HVAC equipment for a vehicle comprising the same, wherein the photocatalytic apparatus may sterilize and deodorize an evaporator in addition to purifying air introduced into an HVAC case and may continuously maintain sterilization and deodorization functions by efficiently radiating heat generated from the photocatalytic apparatus.

The invention relates to an air-conditioning device for a space to be air-conditioned. The air-conditioning device has a housing including an air supply and an air discharge. In the housing, a flow path is formed between the air supply and the air discharge. In the flow path, at least one heat exchanger, a blower, and a means for generating an excited gas are provided. Furthermore, a surface coating is provided in the flow path, which is configured for the catalytic decomposition of the ozone content of the excited gas, and which is arranged downstream of the means for generating the excited gas.

A method for automatically cleaning a vehicle's heat exchanger or air filter is provided. In use, once the system determines that the heat exchanger/air filter should be cleaned, for example based on total operational time or the number of use cycles or air flow, the system temporarily reverses the direction of the corresponding fan assembly, thereby reversing the flow of air through the heat exchanger/air filter and forcing out dust, dirt and other debris.

A condenser arrangement for an air conditioning system may include at least one pipe wall composed of a metal, e.g., aluminium. A protective layer may be disposed on the at least one pipe wall. The protective layer may have a composition including 40 to 90 mass % zinc oxide (ZnO). The protective layer may additionally include a polymer binding agent and/or an additive.