Loading article...
Loading article...
Stream/Area:
-
Subject:
-
Paper ID:
IJSREM65053
Volume:
10 |
6 |
Jun 2026
Pages:
1-3
Publication Frequency:
Monthly (12 issues per year)
License:International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management follows the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) License, allowing free use and distribution with proper attribution.
Electronic and Telecommunications
MVP Samaj’s Karmaveer Adv. Baburao Ganpatrao Thakare College of Engineering, Nashik, Maharashtra, India
Electronic and Telecommunications
MVP Samaj’s Karmaveer Adv. Baburao Ganpatrao Thakare College of Engineering, Nashik, Maharashtra, India
Electronic and Telecommunications
MVP Samaj’s Karmaveer Adv. Baburao Ganpatrao Thakare College of Engineering, Nashik, Maharashtra, India
Electronic and Telecommunications
MVP Samaj’s Karmaveer Adv. Baburao Ganpatrao Thakare College of Engineering, Nashik, Maharashtra, India
Manual refrigerant charging of automotive air-conditioning (A/C) systems is time-consuming and frequently results in overcharging, undercharging, and avoidable venting of refrigerant to the atmosphere. This paper presents the design and prototype implementation of an automated, Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) based refrigerant charging machine for vehicle A/C systems. The machine integrates pressure transducers, a load cell, and solenoid-actuated manifold valves under a single ladder-logic control program to perform refrigerant recovery, vacuum evacuation, leak verification, and metered charging in a fixed, repeatable sequence. A Human-Machine Interface (HMI) lets the operator set the target charge, select the operating mode, and observe live pressure and weight readings, while hardware interlocks—an emergency stop, motor thermal-overload trips, and a pressure-relief valve—protect the operator and the equipment. The prototype shows that the four-stage cycle can be executed automatically with the charge quantity governed by mass rather than operator judgement, reducing wastage and improving cycle-to-cycle consistency. Built from low-cost industrial components, the system suits small and medium automotive workshops and provides a foundation for future IoT-based monitoring and automatic leak detection.
KEYWORDS
This paper presented a PLC-based machine that automates the recovery, evacuation, leak-test, and metered-charging cycle for automotive A/C systems. The prototype demonstrated automatic stage sequencing, mass-based charge termination, live HMI monitoring, and functioning emergency-stop and overload interlocks, using low-cost industrial components suited to small and medium workshops. The main limitations are the cost of the PLC, the absence of quantitative accuracy testing, and untested operation with alternative refrigerants. Future work will add quantitative accuracy and repeatability characterization, IoT-based remote monitoring and data logging, automatic leak detection, smart refrigerant identification, and a microcontroller-based low-cost variant, advancing the system toward a smarter and more sustainable charging solution.
[1] H. S. Le Nguyen, M. H. Nguyen, and L. N. Thanh, “Refrigerant charging unit for residential air conditioners,” Int. J. Mech. Eng., 2018. [2] D. R. Shende, H. Jagtap, K. Shinde, and S. Gholave, “PLC-based AC gas filling machine,” Int. J. Sci. Adv. Res. Technol. (IJSART), 2019. [3] K. Li, Y. Li, X. Wei, et al., “A study of optimal refrigerant charge amount,” Energies (MDPI), 2020. [4] W. F. Stoecker and J. W. Jones, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 2nd ed. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill, 1982. [5] C. P. Arora, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 3rd ed. New Delhi, India: Tata McGraw-Hill, 2010. [6] S. O. Oyedepo et al., “Performance evaluation of an automotive air-conditioning system using R134a refrigerant,” Int. J. Therm. Sci., 2019. [7] A. A. Fayazbakhsh and R. Bahrami, “Comprehensive modeling of automotive air conditioning systems for design and control applications,” Appl. Therm. Eng., vol. 82, pp. 348–364, 2015. [8] R. Kumar and M. S. Alam, “Review on refrigerant charging methods and their impact on system performance,” Int. J. Eng. Res. Technol. (IJERT), 2018. [9] SAE International, R-134a Refrigerant Handling and Service Procedures, SAE Standard J2842, 2017.
Publication Date
6/16/2026
Peer Review Type
Double-Blind Peer Review
Review Rounds: 2
Documents
Article Views
0
Total views since publication
PDF Downloads
3
Total downloads since publication
Geographic Reach
5
Digital Preservation: This article is permanently archived on Zenodo and complies with all data preservation standards across major indexing platforms.
Plagiarism Screening
This manuscript has been checked for plagiarism using TurnitinPlagiarismChecker software.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this research work.
Funding Information
No funding information available for this research.
Related research in the same subject area
Loading similar articles...