Effects of geometric parameters and operating conditions on the performance of a high-voltage PTC heater for an electric vehicle

•PTC heater characteristics studied by varying geometry and operating conditions.•Developed bead array & bead-emboss fin heaters characteristics superior to plate fin heater.•j factor of developed bead-emboss fin heater is 8.0% higher than plate fin heater.•f factor of developed bead-emboss fin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied thermal engineering 2018-10, Vol.143, p.1023-1033
Main Authors: Park, Myeong Hyeon, Kim, Sung Chul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air conditioners
Air conditioning
Effects
Electric potential
Electric vehicles
Embossing
Fins
Gravimetric power density
Heat transfer
Heaters
Heating
High voltages
Parameter estimation
Parameters
Positive temperature coefficient
Power consumption
Pressure drop
PTC heater
Radiation
Radiation fin
Ventilation
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Summary:•PTC heater characteristics studied by varying geometry and operating conditions.•Developed bead array & bead-emboss fin heaters characteristics superior to plate fin heater.•j factor of developed bead-emboss fin heater is 8.0% higher than plate fin heater.•f factor of developed bead-emboss fin heater is 39.6% lower than plate fin heater.•Developed bead-emboss fin heater has 67.2% higher AGF, 26.6% higher VGF than plate fin heater. To realize the maximum mileage of an electric vehicle per single charge in winter, improving the positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater performance and reducing the power consumption of the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system is necessary. Therefore, a lightweight heater technology having good thermal performance characteristics and power density is required for the optimal design of PTC heater components. In this study, the geometric parameters of the heater were set for an experiment involving a comparison of the analysis results of the heater models for various radiation fins. The bead array fin heater exhibited an 11.8% higher heating capacity, 2.5% higher efficiency, 7.2% higher pressure drop, and an 11.7% higher power density than the plate fin heater. The bead-emboss fin heater showed 10.3% higher heating capacity, 1.2% higher efficiency, 0.4% higher pressure drop, and 23.7% higher power density than the plate fin heater. Furthermore, the air-side heat transfer and friction characteristics were investigated according to the high-voltage PTC heater operating conditions in an electric vehicle. In the bead-emboss fin heater, the j factor was 8.0% higher and f factor was 39.6% lower on average for 300 
ISSN:1359-4311
1873-5606
DOI:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.07.024