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Air conditioning can sap quite a lot of energy from an engine - especially micro cars like the Honda Beat. This idea boosts effective peak performance without altering the engine.
(1) When the accelerator/throttle is 'kicked down' (sudden depression), a clutch disengages the a/c drive belt from
the engine, and a valve in the expansion chamber is simultaneously closed, preserving pressure in the a/c system
(2) Cold air flow is preserved by a small chilled water accumulator so there is no noticeable effect on the climate control
(3) When the kick down is released, the clutch engages and the valve opens restoring normal operation
Mopar (Chrysler) WOT Relay
http://minimopar.ne...u/ac_cutout_re.html
[Cedar Park, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]
Honda, Beat
http://www.aros.net...Honda%20Prelude.jpg
[thumbwax, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]
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Annotation:
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Baked on many cars. It is called a WOT (Wide Open Throttle) relay. [link] |
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[FloridaManatee]: I drive a VW Golf Diesel (90 HP), so I notice quite a large loss of power when I use the A/C, especially going up hills. A similar idea to yours occurred to me a while back due to this: |
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The A/C unit could be used to cool a chunk of metal (or other heat sink) directly. The cabin cooling loop would feed off this. This cooling loop would use a liquid heat exchanger that could vary it’s volume instantly to maintain the desired cabin temperature. For example, if the heat sink was at 0C then the liquid may be pumped rather quickly to dissipate as much cabin heat as possible, but if the heat sink was –50C, then the liquid need only circulate very slowly. The point is, when you are coasting to a stop, or braking, use the A/C as much as possible – it’ll save your brakes, and reclaim some kinetic energy. |
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The advantage of my idea was that, and here’s the similarity to yours, the computer could switch off the A/C whenever the power demand was too great, and run the A/C at a much higher level when braking. |
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The heat sink may reach extremely cold temperatures going downhill, but the occupants wouldn’t notice either way. |
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Another advantage would be that the heat sink could stay cold for quite some time if the car was stopped (as it’d be insulated well). There’d be a bypass for instant cooling, for when the car hadn’t been run for a while. |
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I think the benefits of a system like this would outweigh the added complexity. Thoughts? |
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Thanks, [Cedar] and [UB]. I didn't know they did... but the baked version doesn't incorporate integral concepts of preserving pressure in the compressor and maintaining air cooling through an accumulator. |
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Between me an my motorhead friends we have this dream of a supercar that has an entire fusebox for WOT changes (one side for on during WOT, and the other for off). Changing the way the A/C and other luxuries work to force less pull from the alternator was top. Second was completly disengaging the alternator with a electromagnetic clutch (like A/C compressors) and letting the engine run off of battery power for the duration of the WOT. |
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[TIB], wouldn't insulating a heatsink reduce
its overall ability to act as a heatsink? |
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