Assessing Solutions to Environmental Concerns Regarding Automotive AC Compressors

Automotive AC compressor is certainly one the most important parts of a modern-day automobile. It serves as the main component of the vehicle’s air conditioning system and helps in the generation of cool air inside the automobile. The basic function of AC compressor is to put pressure on the refrigerant which helps in absorbing the heat inside the vehicle. The refrigerant is then passed through the condenser which activates the heat transfer characteristics of the refrigerant and thus temperatures inside the vehicle can be changed depending on the weather outside.

As the use of automobiles for long-distance travels has increased over the years, modern-day vehicles essentially come with automotive AC compressors so that drivers and passengers can travel with comfort in any season. This utility of automotive AC compressors has increased their demand from automobile manufacturing companies, exponentially. As per a report published by Research Dive, this growth in demand, along with increase in the disposable incomes of the global population is anticipated to give a huge boost to the global automotive AC compressor market in the next few years. The report further adds that as far as regional analysis is concerned, the market in Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the fastest growing owing to huge number of automobile sales in developing countries like India and China.

Realigning the Automotive AC Compressor Technology with Environmental Protection

Since the last decade of the 20^th century, there has been an increased focus on sustainability and environmental conservation. Growing pace of global warming and risks associated with climate change have forced governments, policy think tanks, and environmentalists to put pressure on automobile manufacturing companies to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the refrigerants used by most AC compressors release hydrofluorocarbons which are thousand times more potent than carbon dioxide in their contribution to climate change. As a result, apart from the slump due to the pandemic, the automobile manufacturing companies have faced the brunt of strict environmental regulations.

As a solution to this problem, new chemicals and refrigerants are being developed which will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and thus have little impact on the environment. One such refrigerant is hydrofluoroolefin. Created by a retired chemist, Rajiv Singh, hydrofluoroolefins, or HFOs, are unsaturated organic compounds made from carbon, hydrogen, and fluorine. Thus, while traditional refrigerants like hydrofluorocarbons or chlorofluorocarbons are saturated compounds, hydrofluoroolefins are alkenes. Due to the difference in the chemical composition, while CFCs and HFCs are quite harmful to the atmosphere and environment, HFOs have very low global warming potential and hence are quite eco-friendly. Moreover, HFOs are non-toxic, non-flammable, chemically stable compounds, which is why many engineers and researchers are devising methods to use them as refrigerants for automotive AC compressors.

Another important initiative that is being worked upon in the automobile manufacturing industry is to design and develop robust automotive AC compressors for electric vehicles. While conventional AC compressors are driven by V-belts and pulleys, automotive AC compressors for electric vehicles run on electric motors that are embedded on the vehicle’s electric network itself. The design architecture of electric vehicles makes the AC compressors working on electric motors more efficient than their conventional counterparts. This, in turn, translates into faster cooling of the vehicle interior with less amount of refrigerant as compared to automotive AC compressors running on pulleys and V-belts.

In Summary

Increasing governmental regulations on manufacturing less-polluting vehicles has triggered a wave of innovations on both fronts- creating eco-friendly refrigerants and designing efficient automotive AC compressors that use less amount of refrigerant in the first place. The success of these innovations can be adjudged from the fact that the number of investments in research and development of these chemicals and technologies has increased tremendously in the past few years. The materialization of these innovations will lead an environmentally sustainable global automobile manufacturing industry which will play a huge role in achieving our net-zero targets and build a greener planet.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.