Coconut oil as phase change material to maintain thermal comfort in passenger vehicles: An experimental analysis

Abstract

Parked vehicles are vulnerable to cabin overheating, which leads to hyperthermia, accidental death of babies and pets, increased fuel consumption and deterioration of vehicle interior. In this study, an effort was made to maintain thermal comfort inside an automobile cabin by impregnating phase change material (PCM) beneath the rooftop of the vehicle. Experiments were performed for a period of 3 months with coconut oil as PCM, in the Abha region of Saudi Arabia. An Arduino UNO microcontroller-based temperature measurement system with LM-35 temperature sensors along with a bluetooth module and an android application was used to monitor the cabin temperature history. Initially, the cabin temperature was monitored without PCM, and it was found in good agreement with the theoretical values published in the literature. Subsequently, the cabin temperature with PCM was measured, and the results show that the interior temperature of the automobile cabin is decreased by 15 °C on an average. This method is a simple and feasible solution to prevent undesirable heating of automobile cabins when parked under sunlight.