Air Conditioning System Utilizing Vehicle Waste Energy

This paper describes conceptual design modifications that can be made to conventional, non-hybrid passenger vehicles, to allow the air conditioning refrigerant compressor to be powered by vehicle waste kinetic energy occurring during those times when the driver’s foot is off the gas. Without affecting passenger comfort, such compressor engagements, using regenerated waste energy, directly offsets engine fuel otherwise consumed for equivalent engine driven engagements. This results in significant fuel savings when the air conditioning system is operating during traffic pattern conditions.