Automated Air Filter Clog Detection in Passenger Vehicles- Enhancing Cabin Air Quality Tata Motors, Limited

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

Raj, Rohit, author.

Contributor:

Ghate, Pravin

Mohite, Yashwant

Naik, Niranjan

Conference Name:

SAENIS TTTMS Thermal Management Systems Conference (2025-11-06 : Guwahati, India)

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource cm

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2025

Summary:

Air filters are critical to vehicle Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, ensuring cabin air quality by trapping dust particles that accumulate over time. However, conventional clogging diagnosticssuch as physics-based simulations, empirical models or manual inspectionare often too complex or impractical for in-vehicle deployment. To address this, we present a simple and practical diagnostic approach for real-time detection of cabin filter clogging by continuously monitoring the pressure drop across the filterevaporator assembly at five blower speed settings. Baseline pressure drop values were established for a clean filter in a production-spec Passenger car and the clogged filter threshold was defined by a 10% reduction in airflow. This corresponded to calibrated pressure drop values of 83, 108, 169, 212 and 256Pa for blower speeds 1 to 5, respectively. These thresholds were programmed into the vehicle's climate control ECU. During operation, when the measured pressure drop exceeds the threshold for any blower speed, an electronic alert prompts filter replacement. Experimental validation confirmed reliable detection and timely alerts for filter clogging at every blower speed setting evaluated and in all five tested vehicle units. This low-cost, easily integrated solution enables condition-based maintenance and improved cabin air quality experience and can be readily adapted to a range of automobile models without significant hardware or system changes

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Publisher Number:

2025-28-0420

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license