CFD-APSO Co-Optimization for Enhanced Heat Dissipation in a Camellia oleifera Harvester Engine Compartment

Camellia oleifera harvester is a compact agricultural vehicle utilized in plantations located in China’s red soil hilly regions. To enhance its functionality and off-road performance, additional electronic devices and a more powerful powertrain system have been integrated within the engine compartment. However, the increased component density has resulted in constrained heat dissipation space, leading to critical issues including insufficient engine power, delayed control response, and reduced vibration frequency of the harvesting device. These thermal problems significantly compromise operational efficiency and pose safety hazards to operators. To address these heat dissipation challenges, this study proposes a collaborative optimization approach integrating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation with an Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization (APSO) algorithm. Initially, preliminary experiments, coupled with CFD simulations, were conducted to analyze the airflow distribution and temperature field within the engine compartment. Based on these findings, the component arrangement was reconfigured to improve thermal performance. Subsequently, an “engine compartment cover parameters–temperature” correlation model was established, and the dimensional parameters of the engine compartment cover were optimized using the APSO algorithm. Experimental results demonstrate that the optimized configuration achieves an average surface temperature reduction of approximately 17.82% for critical components, enabling prolonged stable operation and significantly enhanced operational reliability of the harvester.