Course detail
Thermal Management of Vehicles
FSI-QTE Acad. year: 2025/2026 Summer semester
The course Thermal Management of Vehicles acquaints students with the theoretical basis of heat transfer, which are then applied to the issue of automotive powertrain cooling and to the systems of thermal comfort of vehicle cabins.
Language of instruction
Czech
Number of ECTS credits
4
Supervisor
Department
Entry knowledge
Thermodynamics, basic computer skills.
Rules for evaluation and completion of the course
Attendance at seminars and laboratory measurements. Overall evaluation of the course will be based on written exam, focusing on the application of lessons learned.
Attendance at seminars is compulsory. Absence at seminars and replacing them is solved individually with a teacher.
Aims
The aim of the course is to familiarize students with current trends in the automotive heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems and powertrain cooling including thermal managment of electric vehicles, accumulators and other infrastructures necesarry for charging and fast charging.
The course will provide students with the knowledge of heat transfer and apply it to problems of cooling of the combustion engine and the treatment of the indoor climate in the cabs of vehicles.
The study programmes with the given course
Programme N-ADI-P: Automotive and Material Handling Engineering, Master's, compulsory-optional
Programme N-AAE-P: Advanced Automotiv Engineering, Master's, compulsory
Type of course unit
Lecture
26 hours, optionally
Syllabus
1. Thermal management of cars – Introduction.
2. Heat transfer – Conduction.
3. Heat transfer – Unsteady conduction.
4. Heat transfer – Fins.
5. Heat exchangers – design methods.
6. Heat exchangers construction.
7. Heat resources and thermal management in the engine compartment.
8. Thermal managment of EV vehicles and charging infrsatructure.
9. Cabin, thermal comfort and services provided by HVAC systems.
10. The rating of thermal comfort in the cabins of automobiles.
11. Challenges in the field of automotive HVAC – classic cars, EV cars.
12. Cooling cycles – principles of operation
13. Cooling cycles – design of automotive air conditioning
Exercise
13 hours, compulsory
Syllabus
1. – 2. Thermal balance of Combustion engine.
3. – 4. Determination of the heat transfer coefficient.
5. – 6. Experiment – IR camera in thermal management.
7. – 8. Experiment – cabin heat up, evaluation of thermal comfort.
9. – 10. Experiment – defrost of windshield.
11. – 13. Experiment – efficiency of refrigeration unit.