Abstract of ECOQUEST
An important subsystem in surface transportation vehicles (rails bound,
automotive and heavy duty) is the cooling unit. Present European
standards for interoperability of rail bound traffic require low noise
levels while manufactures need to meet the vehicle performance and
energy efficiency requested by the operators. The stringent EU6
emission limits expected to come into effect will increase dramatically
the demand for cooling power in road vehicles without accepting a noise
penalty. Manufactures need innovative methods for reducing costs of
development and testing and thus further improving their
competitiveness in the global market.
The objectives are
innovative contributions towards novel cooling units with reduced noise
radiation an decreased CO2 emissions. We aim at new compact layouts,
innovative heat management strategies and low energy/noise components.
Intermediate objectives concern (i) implementation of an integrated
simulation platform for noise mechanisms, scattering and propagation;
(ii) development of design procedures for thermally and acoustically
optimal cooling units; (iii) research on innovative fan designs and new
passive noise control measures and their integration into novel cooling
units. Mass produced automotive units and large locomotive systems
produced at small numbers are considered simultaneously - strong
synergies and cross-fertilization are expected.
The project is
structured in five work packages. WP1 deals with the project
co-ordination, WP2 focuses on the acoustical models and their
integration, WP3 takes into account realistic train and automotive
environments, WP4 deals with full scale vehicle tests and WP5 concludes
the project with an assessment and an exploitation plan and
dissemination. Being an upstream-research oriented project, a majority
of the person-month and budget, especially within WP2 and WP3, are
committed to three universities and a research establishment. WP4 and 5
are performed primarily by industrial partners to enable immediate
exploitation of the results.