An air-conditioning system and method of climate control for a fuel cell vehicle are provided herein. The system and method include a vacuum enclosure having an adsorber and an evaporator/condenser assembly. A conduit and valve system operates the air-conditioning system in two modes of operation to provide uninterrupted cooling to a passenger cabin, among other things. In one mode of operation, the adsorber is regenerated using waste heat from a fuel cell stack.

A method of operating a cooling system that has at least one evaporator containing a refrigerant and at least one adsorbent chamber containing adsorbent configured to provide adsorption of vaporized refrigerant from the at least one evaporator in a cooling mode and provide desorption of the refrigerant to the at least one evaporator in a recharging mode, the method including; controlling the adsorption and desorption of the refrigerant of the at least one adsorbent chamber between the cooling modes and recharging modes during a cooling cycle; ceasing desorption of the refrigerant from the at least one adsorbent chamber; allowing adsorption of the vaporized refrigerant from the at least one evaporator; and maintaining the at least one adsorbent chamber in an adsorbed state at the end of the cooling cycle in a storage mode.

An air-conditioning system is provided for a motor vehicle. That system includes a vacuum enclosure having a refrigerant, a first section and a second section. The system further includes a radiator, a core and a phase change material vessel downstream from the core. A conduit and valve system operate the air-conditioning system in two modes of operation.

An exhaust gas flow control system disclosed relates to the field of mechanical engineering. The system reduces exhaust gas back pressure exerted on an internal combustion engine and prevents excessive heat loss in a radiator. The system comprises a flow regulator connected to an outlet of a silencer and configured to selectively direct the flow of exhaust gases to a metal hydride heat pump and/or a tailpipe. The flow of exhaust gases is directed towards the metal hydride heat pump in case of increased cooling requirement in the vehicle, and to the tailpipe in case of no cooling requirement or maintenance of the metal hydride heat pump. In case of reduced cooling requirement, partial flow of exhaust gases is directed to the metal hydride heat pump and the remaining to the tailpipe. A diverter is configured within the flow regulator to selectively direct the flow of exhaust gases.

A transport refrigeration system (20) has a compartment (22) and a vapor compression refrigeration system (30). The vapor compression refrigeration system (30) has: a compressor (32); a first heat exchanger (34) downstream of the compressor along a refrigerant flowpath in a cooling mode; an expansion device (36); a second heat exchanger (38) downstream of the expansion device along the refrigerant flowpath; and a fan (42) for driving air along an air flowpath across the second heat exchanger for cooling the compartment in the cooling mode. A thermochemical refrigeration system (100) is coupled to the vapor compression refrigeration system downstream of the first heat exchanger and upstream of the second heat exchanger along the refrigerant flowpath in the cooling mode.

Technologies are described herein for adsorbent-based cooling systems. A cooling system is described that allows for the refrigerant to be adsorbed into the adsorbent to prevent the freezing of the refrigerant.

A heating and cooling system for a vehicle having an internal combustion engine is provided. The system comprises at least one exhaust pipe conveying exhaust gases away from the engine, and a reactor vessel located in the exhaust pipe and containing an absorbent salt and a refrigerant fluid. A condenser is in fluid communication with the reactor vessel, and receives refrigerant vapour from the reactor when exhaust gases heat the reactor vessel in the exhaust pipe. An evaporator is locatable in a cab of the vehicle and is in fluid communication with the condenser and the reactor vessel. The evaporator receives condensed refrigerant from the condenser so as to cool the air surrounding the evaporator, and returning refrigerant vapour to the reactor vessel. A method of cooling a driver environment of a vehicle having an internal combustion engine is also provided, as is a vehicle incorporating the heating and cooling system.

A control system as disclosed in the present disclosure relates to the field of metal hydride air conditioning systems in vehicles. The control system improves cooling capacity and the coefficient of performance of the metal hydride air conditioner. The control system comprises a plurality of sensors, a memory, a time counter, a controller, and at least one actuator. The controller takes into account the pre-set half cycle time as well as the temperature of the exhaust gases at the outlet of a HT or LT reactor for changing fluid flow, i.e. from hot/cold fluid to the fluid at ambient temperature or vice versa, entering the reactors of the metal hydride air conditioner.

The present invention relates to a heating device. In order to allow heating essentially without any latency period and with low costs, the heating device comprises: at least one container (12) having an inlet opening (14) and an outlet opening (16) and comprising an adsorbent agent (18) being provided between said inlet opening (14) and outlet opening (16) and being capable of adsorbing an adsorbate thereby releasing adsorption energy; and a gas conveying device (21) for conveying an adsorbate comprising gas through the interior of the container (12); wherein a gas conduit (22) is provided being connected to the outlet opening (16) of the container (12) for guiding the gas heated by adsorption energy inside the container (12) to a location to be heated with elevated temperature. The present invention further relates to a heating method.

A heating system for a vehicle includes a reaction space (16) containing a first reactant (22) and a reactant storage space (20) containing or/and receiving a second reactant (24), wherein the first reactant and the second reactant form such a reaction system. A reaction of the first reactant with the second reactant produces a reaction product that releases heat. The second reactant can be separated from the first reactant by introducing heat into the reaction product. A reactant-releasing device (26) releases second reactant from the reactant storage space into the reaction space (16). A first heat removal device (58) removes heat from the first reactant or/and reaction product contained in the reaction space (16). A heating unit (52) heats the first reactant or/and heats the reaction product contained in the reaction space. A reactant-recirculating device (36) recirculates second reactant from the reaction space into the reactant storage space.