The invention relates to a thermal control system for an electric vehicle comprising: a high voltage battery; a first heat exchanger adapted to be in contact with the ambient for circulating a heat exchange medium in thermal contact with the ambient; a second heat exchanger in thermal contact with the battery; a heat transport system for transporting the heat exchange medium from the first heat exchanger to an evaporator/condenser assembly that is in thermal contact with the second heat exchanger for transfer of heat to the battery and for transporting the heat exchange medium back to the first heat exchanger. At least one of the first and second heat exchangers is provided with a vibration device, such as an ultrasonic transducer, for releasing of ice formed on the at least one heat exchanger.

A thermal management system control method for a vehicle, may include: (A) a process in which a controller determines whether a pre-cooling mode is selected according to data detected from a data detector before track driving of the vehicle, and operates an air conditioner; (B) a process in which the controller, when the process (A) is completed, operates a battery chiller expansion valve to cool a battery module according to the data detected from the data detector; and (C) a process in which the controller, when the process (B) is completed, determines whether the evaporator is frozen and then thaws the evaporator or controls an evaporator expansion valve, and terminates the control.

A transport climate control system for providing climate control to a climate controlled space of a transport unit. The transport climate control circuit includes a compressor, an evaporator and at least two fans. The transport climate control circuit also includes a controller for controlling the transport climate control circuit and for defrosting the evaporator coil. When a defrost event is triggered, the controller instructs the transport climate control circuit to supply heat to or around one section of the evaporator coil, and independently controls each of the at least two fans to move the air around the evaporator coil in a controlled direction so that heat from the one section of the evaporator coil is used to convectively heat the inlet of the evaporator coil.

A frost suppression device for vehicles includes a grill shutter disposed in front of an outdoor heat exchanger for heating the cabin of the vehicle, a shutter control unit for controlling opening and shutting of the grill shutter, and a weather information obtaining unit for obtaining weather information containing change over time in predicted outside air temperature at the current position of the vehicle. The shutter control unit makes a prediction about frost formation to predict whether the outdoor heat exchanger may be frosted, based on the predicted outside air temperature, when the vehicle is first parked. The prediction about frost formation predicts that frost formation on the outdoor heat exchanger may begin at a time when the predicted outside air temperature becomes equal to or below a predetermined temperature. The shutter control unit shuts the grill shutter before a predicted frosting time.

A method for defrosting an external heat exchanger, operated as an air heat pump evaporator, of a cooling system for a motor vehicle. The cooling system includes a refrigerant compressor connected to a primary and secondary section; an external heat exchanger; an evaporator; a heating register; a primary section valve which is closed in the air heat pump operation; and a secondary section valve which is open in the air heat pump operation. The method includes closing of the secondary section valve; opening of the primary section valve, so that refrigerant flows directly from the refrigerant compressor to the external heat exchanger; and setting an inlet-side pressure level of the refrigerant on the external heat exchanger to a target pressure which corresponds to a condensation temperature (Tkond) of the refrigerant in the range: 2° C. ≤ Tkond ≤ 20° C., in particular 4° C. ≤ Tkond ≤ 10° C.

An integrated thermal management system for vehicles includes: a first cooling line; a second cooling line; a refrigerant line; and a bypass line configured to diverge from the second cooling line, to be connected to a chiller, and to allow a coolant to bypass a second radiator and to circulate between a high-voltage battery and the chiller.

A vehicle air-conditioning device is a heat pump type vehicle air-conditioning device including an external heat exchanger that performs heat exchange between refrigerant flowing the inside thereof and outside air. With the vehicle air-conditioning device, a controller functions as a temperature-difference calculation unit that calculates the temperature difference ΔT between the refrigerant in a refrigerant flow path on the exit side of the external heat exchanger and the outside air, and in addition, the controller functions as a frost formation determination unit that determines that frost formation is caused on the external heat exchanger on the basis of the elapsed time to of a state in which the temperature difference ΔT is equal to or larger than a frost-formation temperature difference at which the frost formation may be caused on the external heat exchanger.

A first sensor measures temperature at a first evaporator that cools a first zone. A second sensor measures temperature at a second evaporator that cools a second zone. A controller operates a compressor in a normal cooling mode or a single zone cooling mode. In the normal cooling mode, both the first zone and the second zone are cooled with the compressor operated by the controller in response to temperature measurements from one or both of the first sensor and the second sensor. In the single zone cooling mode, only the second zone is cooled with the compressor controlled by the controller in response to temperature measurements from the second sensor and the controller determining that the first evaporator has a low probability of accumulating frozen moisture on surfaces thereof, and in response to determining a high probability of accumulating frozen moisture on surfaces thereof the compressor is not operated.

Disclosed therein are a heat pump system for a vehicle and a method of controlling the heat pump system, which determines that frosting begins on an exterior heat exchanger and carries out a defrosting control if a difference value between outdoor temperature and refrigerant temperature of an outlet side of the exterior heat exchanger is above a frosting decision temperature in a heat pump mode, thereby increasing frost-prevention and defrosting effects and enhancing heating performance and stability of the system because the system recognizes the beginning of frosting on the exterior heat exchanger at a proper time so as to carry out the defrosting control.

The invention relates to a method for operating a climate-control system (12) for a vehicle (10). According to the invention, total energy efficiencies are determined for a group of operating strategies for the air-conditioning system (12) and an operating strategy with the greatest total efficiency that fulfills the heating output requirement (44) that has been determined, is selected.