Energy demand for air conditioning in rail-bound intermodal pod-systems

Abstract

The present manuscript describes a method for estimating the energy demand for air conditioning in the Pods4Rail transport system, which aims to enable seamless door-to-door transportation using different modes of transport. Therefore, a simplified HVAC model was set up in Dymola, considering all currently known boundary conditions for the proposed pod-concept as well as the valid railway standards. The results show that summer operation with high ambient temperatures and occupancy is the most demanding operational scenario for the HVAC system. To reduce the battery capacity needed to supply the HVAC system with sufficient Energy and to increase passenger comfort, various energy saving measures were tested. These measures included, among others, adjusting the temperature setpoint and implementing a demand-controlled ventilation. The highest energy saving achieved (by HVAC related measures) in relation to annual energy consumption was around 39 % and in relation to usable battery capacity about 5 %.