ORALS

An efficient heating system for the cabin of electric-driven vehicles (xEVs) is required to minimize the reduction in the driving range. However, studies regarding heat pumps that use waste heat from fuel cell stack, electric devices and battery in xEVs are limited. In this study, the heating performance of a coolant-source heat pump using waste heat in xEVs is investigated by varying coolant temperature, and coolant volumetric flow rate to have enough capacity in severe ambient conditions. A novel triple-fluid heat exchanger is introduced to recover waste heat from the fuel cell stack with high level and electric devices with relatively low level at different temperatures. The heating performance of the coolant-source heat pumps using the electric device coolant and the stack coolant shows different characteristics owing to the different temperature levels of the coolants. This study suggests optimum heat pump system of xEVs with respect to driving range characteristics under severe ambient conditions.

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