DENSO Corporation, a leading global supplier of advanced technology, systems and components, has developed the world’s first passenger vehicle air conditioning system that uses ejector technology. The ejector, a small refrigerant injector, which is equivalent to the size of a conventional evaporator, can also be applied to conventional air conditioning systems, contributes to an overall reduction in power consumption and it will be installed on the new Prius, introduced by Toyota this month.

DENSO’s new system uses an ejector instead of an expansion valve, and helps to recover expansion energy, which was previously lost in the expansion valve, and converts it into pressure energy. This, reduces the compressor’s workload and helps reduce the air conditioner’s overall power consumption. DENSO integrated the ejector into the evaporator tank, where refrigerant flows. This new design eliminates the need for the ejector to have a thicker structure to withstand external pressure and also eliminates pipe connection parts needed to connect the ejector with the evaporator, which helps reduce the size of the ejector.