Fuzzy controller design for optimizing of parking heater

Cabin heaters, also known as parking heaters because they operate when the vehicle's engine is not running, are devices used to warm the indoor air during the winter season. They are popular heaters not just for cars and trucks but also for small spaces such as motorhomes, boats, sheds, and containers. The gains obtained when a cabin heater is operated by a fuzzy controller have not previously been investigated in the literature. The fuzzy inference engine developed in this paper allows the air-fuel ratio in the combustion chamber of the cabin heater to be controlled adaptively based on system dynamics, resulting in lower carbon emissions and fuel consumption. TRNSYS software was used to establish the transient simulation model of a cabin heater with a capacity of 4kW for a typical 21 m2 shelter building in Turkey's cold region. The developed fuzzy controller carried out the heating process of this shelter from the 15th of November to the 15th of March. At the end of the heating season, it was observed that the fuel consumption decreased by about 0.12 l/h. Additionally, the fuzzy controller increased the efficiency of the cabin heater device by more than 5%.