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With summer making its presence well and truly felt, most of us put the air-conditioner on at full blast while in our cars. However, did you know that you are wasting ten per cent of your fuel by running the AC in your vehicle? A city engineering professor has found the solution to this problem and his innovation has won him accolades from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).
Harish Tiwari, a mechanical engineering professor at the Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering (PCCEP) was the recipient of the Gandhian Innovation Award at IIM-A. Tiwari has devised a system which uses emissions from the vehicle to create the cooling system. His entry was chosen from among 488 entries from 21 states.
Tiwari’s project was titled ‘Design & development of 1TR vapour absorption air-cooling system for truck cabin using heat from engine exhaust.’ He was guided by Professor Dr G V Parishwad of the College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP). Professor Parishwad and Tiwari accepted the award from Dr Raghunath Mashelkar on April 5.
The award is given by Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI).
Speaking to Mirror, Tiwari said, “There have been earlier attempts to develop such a system. What we have done is to make it compact as well as convenient and cost-effective. In its present status, the system is heavy and can be mounted only on a truck. But we are trying to make it so it can be adapted to a car as well.”
There is a model of the system at PCCEP and it is purely mechanical. This is the third version of the system and about 50 per cent of its original size and weight. It uses two cylinders and network of pipes, valves etc. to convert the heat generated by the emissions to cool air.
Since Tiwari has filed a patent for the system and his Ph. D thesis on the same subject is in progress, he said he could not divulge more details. But some companies have already contacted him and he plans to make it available commercially.
“At present, it weighs 40 kg and costs about Rs 30,000-40,000 for a cooling capacity of 1 kW within 10 minutes. We are planning to do away with mechanical valves and use electronic circuits to reduce the size. It can work with any fuel which produces hot emissions,” Tiwari said.
The project was realised by funds made available by the Board of College and University Development which gave Rs 1.5 lakh and and PCCEP which gave Rs 50,000. CoEP is taking care of the cost for filing patents.
Professor Parishwad said, “There are many concepts in ideation at the academic level, but problems arise in execution. In this case also, we were hard-pressed to find a truck. That is why we are still at the lab level.”
According to Anil Gupta, professor at the Centre for Management in Agriculture, IIM-A and coordinator, SRISTI, “This innovation may make the running of an automobile more economical. The project requires support in fabricating a full-scale prototype.”
â–º In its present status, the system can be mounted only on a truck. But we are trying to adapt it to cars too
- Harish Tiwari
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