Heating and Cooling

Models of heating and cooling systems in multiple Simscape Fluids domains

In this section, you can find examples of heating and cooling systems in multiple Simscape Fluids domains.

Featured Examples

Air Liquefaction

Models a Linde-Hampson air liquefaction cycle using the two-phase fluid components. The compressor drives the vapor air through two heat exchangers, recuperator, expansion valve, and storage tank. The first heat exchanger contains water at atmospheric temperature, while the second heat exchanger contains refrigerant. The pressure drops as the cooled air passes through the expansion valve which results in condensation. The air and entrained condensation then pass through a receiver tank where the condensation separates from the air. The liquid air is stored in a receiver tank while the vapor air is circulated back to the compressor.

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Building Thermal Management

Model temperature and humidity in a large-scale building in Simscape™ using a custom BuildingHVAC domain and corresponding custom library blocks. The first of two models shows how to estimate the sensible and latent cooling requirement to maintain a desired temperature. The second model shows how to add simple HVAC controls and estimate energy usage.

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Condenser and Evaporator Heat Transfer

Models a condenser or an evaporator in simple test setup with R134a refrigerant on the left side and moist air on the right side. It has a cross flow arrangement with the moist air blowing across tube banks filled with the refrigerant.

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Data Center Cooling

Models the cooling system of a data center. The system consists of two separate water loops: a chilled water loop and a condenser water loop. The chilled water loop absorbs heat from the server farm and transfers it to the condenser water loop. The condenser water loop rejects this heat to the environment using a cooling tower.

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Electric Vehicle Thermal Management

Model the thermal management system of a battery electric vehicle.

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Engine Cooling System

Model an engine cooling system with an oil cooling circuit.

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EV Battery Cooling System

This demo shows an Electric Vehicle (EV) battery cooling system. The battery packs are located on top of a cold plate which consists of cooling channels to direct the cooling liquid flow below the battery packs. The heat absorbed by the cooling liquid is transported to the Heating-Cooling Unit. The Heating-Cooling Unit consists of three branches to switch operating modes to cool and heat the battery. The Heater represents an electrical heater for fast heating of the batteries under low temperature conditions. The Radiator uses air-cooling and/or heating when the batteries are operated stably. The Refrigerant system is used for cooling the overheated batteries. The refrigeration cycle is represented by the amount of heat flow extracted from the cooling liquid. The system is simulated under either FTP-75 drive cycle or fast charge scenarios with different environment temperatures.

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EV Battery Cooling System Design

Explores several questions related to heat exchanger sizing and system performance. The example answers the questions using fundamental heat transfer principles, and then confirms the behavior in test harness models and a full system model.

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Heat Transfer in a Thermal Liquid Pipe

How changes in mass flow rate, environment, and flow direction impact heat transfer in a pipe. These factors are important when designing cooling systems or heat exchangers. This example uses the Simscape Fluids Pipe (TL) block. For more information on pressure loss and flow rate in a pipe, see Pressure Loss and Mass Flow Rate in a Thermal Liquid Pipe.

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House Heating System

Model a simple house heating system. The model contains a heater, a controller, and a house structure with four radiators and four rooms. Each room exchanges heat with the environment through its exterior walls, roof, and windows. Each path is simulated as a combination of a thermal convection, thermal conduction, and the thermal mass. It is assumed that heat is not transferred internally between rooms. The heater consists of a furnace, a boiler, an accumulator, and a pump to circulate hot water in the system. The controller starts admitting fuel into the furnace if the overall average temperature of rooms falls below 21 degree C and it stops if the temperature exceeds 25 degree C. The simulation calculates the heating cost and indoor temperatures.

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Hydraulic Oil System with Thermal Control

A hydraulic oil system with a thermal control using Simscape™ Fluids™ Thermal Liquid blocks. The hydraulic oil system consists of an oil storage tank represented by the Tank (TL) block with two inlets, a pump represented by a Mass Flow Rate Source (TL) block, and pipelines represented by Pipe (TL) block.

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Pipe Fluid Vaporization and Condensation

The 3-Zone Pipe (2P) block used to model vaporization or condensation of fluid flow in a pipe. The block divides the internal fluid volume into up to three zones: liquid zone, mixture zone, and vapor zone, depending on the state of the fluid along the pipe. As fluid flows through the pipe, heat is transferred between the environment external to the pipe and the fluid inside the pipe, causing it to change from liquid to mixture to vapor for the heating case or from vapor to mixture to liquid for the cooling case. The effect of thermal storage in the pipe wall can be optionally turned on by specifying a nonzero pipe wall thickness.

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Refrigeration Cycle (Air Conditioning)

A refrigeration cycle for a home air conditioning system. See Model a Refrigeration Cycle for the recommended steps to build this model in the two-phase fluid domain.

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Refrigeration Cycle (System-Level)

Model a refrigeration cycle for a home air conditioning system at an abstract system level using the System-Level Refrigeration Cycle (2P) block. This block simplifies the set up of the refrigeration cycle by encapsulating the entire refrigerant loop in one block.

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Refrigerant Modernization

Retrofit a Simscape™ cooling cycle that uses R410a to utilize R32, which is a refrigerant with a lower Global Warming Potential (GWP). The process involves modifying the nominal mass flow rate and refrigerant charge, while retaining the original evaporator and condenser specifications. For more information on designing a cooling cycle, see Model a Refrigeration Cycle and Refrigeration Cycle (Air Conditioning).

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Residential Air Source Heat Pump

Models an air source heat pump system that is used to heat a residential building having hot-water radiators for heat distribution. The two-phase fluid refrigerant takes up heat from the environment moist air mixture and transfers heat to water. The compressor drives the R410a refrigerant through a condenser, a thermostatic expansion valve, and an evaporator. An accumulator ensures that only vapor returns to the compressor.

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Residential Ground Source Heat Pump

Models a ground source heat pump system that is used to heat a residential building having hot-water radiators for heat distribution. The ground source heat pump uses R410a, a two-phase fluid refrigerant, as the working fluid. The heat pump takes up the naturally existing heat stored in the ground and transfers the heat to the hot-water radiators. The compressor drives the refrigerant through a condenser, a thermostatic expansion valve, and an evaporator. An accumulator ensures that only vapor returns to the compressor. A receiver ensures that only liquid returns to the thermostatic expansion valve.

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Residential Refrigerator

Models a basic refrigeration system that transfers heat between the refrigerant two-phase fluid and the environment moist air mixture. The compressor drives the R134a refrigerant through a condenser, a capillary tube, and an evaporator. An accumulator ensures that only vapor returns to the compressor.

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Reversible Heat Pump

A refrigeration cycle that can operate in a heat pump mode for heating and in an air conditioning mode for cooling. The refrigerant is R-410A. The system consists of a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an electronic expansion valve (EXV), an indoor heat exchanger, and an accumulator. A 4-way directional valve separates the compressor and accumulator from the rest of the system to control the refrigerant flow direction.

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Simple CPU Cooling System

A simple CPU cooling system consists of a heat sink, a CPU fan, and fan controllers. The heat generated by the CPU is transferred to the heat sink by conduction and it is dissipated to the cooling air by forced convection mechanism. The heat sink is a parallel plate fin with rectangular fins between the plate fins. The CPU fan moves air across the heat sink by drawing air into the case grille from the outside and ejecting warm air from inside. The fan controller unit includes three control levels, representing a 3-speed switch, according to the CPU temperature. For lower CPU temperature, the fan speed is decreased and for higher temperature it is increased.

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Stratified Hot Water Storage Tank Example

Model a hot water storage tank with temperature variations from top to bottom. The tank has a cold water inlet on the bottom and a hot water outlet on the top. This design allows the top of the tank and the outgoing water to remain hot even as the tank refills and cools the bottom of the tank.

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Vehicle HVAC System

Models the heating and cooling system of a passenger car. The cabin is represented as a volume of moist air exchanging heat with the external environment. The blower drives moist air through the evaporator, blend door, and heater core before returning to the cabin. The blend door controls the amount of air flow through the heater core. The recirculation door controls whether air is brought in from the external environment or from within the cabin.

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