Performance evaluation of a vertical ground‐source heat pump system in Izmir,Turkey

This study summarizes the cooling performance of a ground‐source heat pump system which was installed in a 65‐m² room in the Solar Energy Institute, Ege University, Izmir (568 degree‐days cooling, base: 22°C; 1226 degree‐days heating, base: 18°C) Turkey. The institute, built in 1986, has a liveable floor area of 3000 m², and uses passive solar techniques. The heating and cooling loads of the room were, respectively, 3.8 and 4.2 kW at design conditions. The system was commissioned in May 2000 and the performance tests have been carried out since then. Based upon the measurements, the heat rejection rate to the soil with an average thermal diffusivity of 0.00375 m²h^?1 in the cooling mode was found to be in average 51 W m^?1 of bore depth, while the maximum entering water temperature to the unit was recorded as 35.9°C. The cooling coefficient of performance of the heat pump and the whole system was relatively low when compared to other heat pumps operating under conditions at or near design values. The primary reasons for this were discussed in detail and the potential for performance improvements was also suggested. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental investigation of a vapor compression heat pump used for cooling and heating applications

The present work aims at evaluating the performance characteristics of a vapor compression heat pump (VCHP) for simultaneous space cooling (summer air conditioning) and hot water supply. In order to achieve this objective, a test facility was developed and experiments were performed over a wide range of evaporator water inlet temperature (14:26 °C) and condenser water inlet temperature (22:34 °C). R134a was used as a primary working fluid whereas water was adopted as a secondary heat transfer fluid at both heat source (evaporator) and heat sink (condenser) of the heat pump. Performance characteristics of the considered heat pump were characterized by outlet water temperatures, water side capacities and coefficient of performance (COP) for various operating modes namely: cooling, heating and simultaneous cooling and heating. Results showed that COP increases with the evaporator water inlet temperature while decreases as the condenser water inlet temperature increases. However, the evaporator water inlet temperature has more effect on the performance characteristics of the heat pump than that of condenser water inlet temperature. Actual COP of cooling mode between 1.9 to 3.1 and that of heating mode from 2.9 to 3.3 were obtained. Actual simultaneous COP between 3.7 and 4.9 was achieved.     

Experimental investigation of the performance of a solar‐assisted ground‐source heat pump system for greenhouse heating

The main objective of the present study is to investigate the performance characteristics of a solar‐assisted ground‐source heat pump system (SAGSHPS) for greenhouse heating with a 50 m vertical 1¼ in nominal diameter U‐bend ground heat exchanger. This system was designed and installed in the Solar Energy Institute, Ege University, Izmir (568 degree days cooling, base: 22°C, 1226 degree days heating, base: 18°C), Turkey. Based upon the measurements made in the heating mode, the heat extraction rate from the soil is found to be, on average, 54.08 Wm^?1 of bore depth, while the required borehole length in meter per kW of heating capacity is obtained as 12.57. The entering water temperature to the unit ranges from 8.2 to 16.2°C, with an average value of 9.1°C. The greenhouse air is at a maximum day temperature of 25°C and night temperature of 14°C with a relative humidity of 40%. The heating coefficient of performance of the heat pump (COP_HP) is about 2.13 at the end of a cloudy day, while it is about 2.84 at the end of sunny day and fluctuates between these values in other times. The COP values for the whole system are also obtained to be 5–15% lower than COP_HP. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance analysis of hybrid solar-geothermal CO2 heat pump system for residential heating

A simulation study of hybrid solar-geothermal heat pump system for residential applications using carbon dioxide was carried out under different operating conditions. The system consists of a solar unit (concentric evacuated tube solar collector and heat storage tank) and a CO₂ heat pump unit (three double-pipe heat exchangers, electric expansion valve, and compressor). As a result, the differential of pressure ratio between the inlet and the outlet of the compressor increases by 19.9%, and the compressor work increases from 4.5 to 5.3 kW when the operating temperature of the heat pump rises from 40 °C to 48 °C. Besides, the pressure ratio of the compressor decreases from 3 to 2.5 when the ground temperature increases from 11 °C to 19 °C. The operating time of the heat pump is reduced by 5 h as the daily solar radiation increases. As the solar radiation increases from 1 to 20 MJ/m², the collector heat rises by 48% and the maximum collector heat becomes 47.8 kWh. The heating load increases by 70% as the indoor design temperature increases from 18 °C to 26 °C. However, the solar fraction is reduced from 11.4% to 5.8% because of the increases of the heating load.     

Experimental study on a small‐scale pumpless organic Rankine cycle with R1233zd(E) as working fluid at low temperature heat source

This paper focuses on the novelty pumpless organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and its choice of working fluids. Based on the selection criteria, the refrigerant of R1233zd(E) is firstly chosen and investigated in the pumpless ORC system. In the system, the feed pump is removed, and the refrigerant flows back and forth between two heat exchangers, which act as the evaporator or condenser, respectively. The impacts of the heating water temperature and loads on the system performance are studied to find out the best operating conditions. The low‐grade heat source is simulated by an electric boiler. The temperature of the heat resource ranges from 80°C to 100°C with the interval of 5°C. The temperature of the cooling water inlet is 10°C and is kept constant. The largest average power output is 127 W under the condition of 100°C heating water with nine loads. Because the cycle efficiency with heating steam temperature of 100°C cannot be determined, the highest energy and exergy efficiencies are 3.5% and 17.1%, respectively, for heating water of 95°C with seven loads. The experimental results show that the energy and exergy efficiencies increase with the increase of the heating temperature. The power and current outputs increase when the loads increase under the condition of the constant heating water temperature, whereas the voltage output decreases meanwhile. The generating time increases when the loads increase. This phenomenon is mainly caused by the increasing evaporating pressure and decreasing condensing pressure when the loads increases.     

Temperature–enthalpy/entropy charts of combined ejector–absorption cycle using NH3–H2O

This paper describes the performance of an ammonia–water combine ejector–absorption cycle as refrigerator and heat pump. This combination brings together the advantages of absorption and ejector systems. Also, thermodynamic cycles on the temperature–enthalpy and temperature–entropy charts are shown. The thermodynamics of the combined ejector–absorption cycles are simulated by a suitable method and a corresponding computer code, based on analytic functions describing the behaviour of the binary mixture NH₃–H₂O. It is found that in the case of the refrigerator and heat pump, the theoretical coefficient of performance (COP) or the theoretical heat gain factor (HGF) vary from 1.6 to 90.4 per cent and 0.7 to 37.6 per cent, greater than those of the conventional absorption system, respectively. The operation conditions were: generator temperature (205.5 to 237.1°C), condenser temperature (25.9 to 37.4°C) and evaporator temperature (−8.4 to 5°C). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance characteristics of mobile heat pump for a large passenger electric vehicle

In this study, the performance of a mobile heat pump for an electric bus, which uses the wasted heat of electric devices for a heating and air source for a cooling, was evaluated. Both cooling and heating performances of the mobile heat pump were tested under various experimental conditions, and then optimized by varying the refrigerant charge and the compressor frequency. The cooling capacity at all compressor frequencies was over 23.0 kW, which is sufficient for the cooling loads of an electric bus. The heating COP decreased but the heating capacity increased with the rise of outdoor temperature and the compressor frequency. The heating COP was 2.4 at an outdoor temperature of 10.0 °C. The observed heating and cooling performance characteristics of the mobile heat pump means it could be used for cabin heating and air conditioning of an electric vehicle with a short driving range.     

Optimal control and performance test of solar-assisted cooling system

The solar-assisted cooling system (SACH) was developed in the present study. The ejector cooling system (ECS) is driven by solar heat and connected in parallel with an inverter-type air conditioner (A/C). The cooling load can be supplied by the ECS when solar energy is available and the input power of the A/C can be reduced. In variable weather, the ECS will probably operate at off-design condition of ejector and the cooling capability of the ECS can be lost completely. In order to make the ejector operate at critical or non-critical double-choking condition to obtain a better performance, an electronic expansion valve was installed in the suction line of the ejector to regulate the opening of the expansion valve to control the evaporator temperature. This will make the SACH always produce cooling effect even at lower solar radiation periods while the ejector performs at off-design conditions. The energy saving of A/C is experimentally shown 50–70% due to the cooling performance of ECS. The long-term performance test results show that the daily energy saving is around 30–70% as compared to the energy consumption of A/C alone (without solar-driven ECS). The total energy saving of A/C is 52% over the entire test period.     

Performance testing of a novel ejector refrigerator for various controlled conditions

The paper presents the experimental results of a novel ejector refrigerator that was designed to be suitable for an air‐conditioning application using vacuum tube solar collectors for vapour generation. The primary flow of the ejector is controlled using a spindle in order to provide fine tuning for ejector operation as heat input changes with solar radiation. Water, the most environmentally friendly substance is used as the working fluid. The performance of the ejector was tested for a range of controlled primary flows, boiler temperatures, condensation capacities using different primary nozzles with different lengths. The effect of the operating conditions and nozzle length on the performance of the ejector was analyzed. It was found that in the tested boiler temperature range of 84–96°C the maximum cooling capacity (4.01 kW) of the ejector with short nozzle is much higher than that of the ejector with long nozzle (2.9 kW) on the spindle position of 21 mm. However, the ejector with long nozzle has increased COP when the boiler temperature is below 88°C and has higher critical back pressure. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermodynamic and heat-hydrogen transfer analyses of novel multistage hydrogen-alloy sorption heat pump

The requirement of simultaneous heating and cooling effects at different zones of a building demands for the development of an energy-efficient air-conditioning system for heating and cooling outputs. In order to fulfil this requirement, a novel multistage hydrogen-alloy–based sorption heat pump (H-A SHP) for space air-conditioning is proposed in the present work. The proposed system produces multiple cooling and heating outputs at 20°C and 45°C, respectively, with single heat input at 160°C. A set of MmNi₅, La_0.8Ce_0.2Ni₅, MmNi_4.4Al_0.6, and LaNi_4.6Al_0.4 metal hydrides (MHs) is chosen to operate at the above-mentioned temperature range with hydrogen as working fluid. The proposed system can completely eliminate the requirement of conventional compressor because it operates using waste heat, and useful outputs (cooling-heating) result from reaction enthalpies (MH + H₂ interaction). The thermodynamic and heat-hydrogen transfer analyses of H-A SHP are carried out through finite volume approach, in which heat and mass transfer equations are solved to foresee the variations in MH bed temperature, hydrogen concentration, and heat interactions during cycle operation as well as the amount of cooling and heating outputs delivered to the air-conditioning space. The numerical code is validated with experimental pressure-concentration isotherms (PCIs) measured through Sievert's apparatus. The maximum heat exchange during the cooling and heating processes, at a particular instant of time, is observed as 257.5 and 286.1 W with cooling temperature of 10°C and heating temperature of 53°C, respectively. The thermodynamic performance is estimated as 178.5 kJ of cooling effect, 265.5 kJ of upgraded heat with overall coefficient of performance (COP) of 6.8, and overall specific alloy output of 396.5 W/0.34 kg of alloy.     

An experimental investigation of steam ejector refrigeration system powered by extra low temperature heat source

A steam ejector refrigeration system is a low capital cost solution for utilizing industrial waste heat or solar energy. When the heat source temperature is lower than 80 °C, the utilization of the thermal energy from such a low-temperature heat source can be a considerable challenge. In this investigation, an experimental prototype for the steam ejector refrigeration system was designed and manufactured, which can operate using extra low-temperature heat source below 80 °C. The effects of the operation temperature, the nozzle exit position (NXP) and the diameter of the constant area section on the working performance of the steam ejector were investigated at generating temperatures ranging from 40 °C to 70 °C. Three ejectors with a same de Laval nozzle for the primary nozzle and three different constant-area sections were designed and fabricated. The experimental results show that a steam ejector can function for a certain configuration size of the steam ejector with a generating temperature ranging from 40 °C to 70 °C and an evaporating temperature of 10 °C. For a given NXP, the system COP and cooling capacity of the steam ejector decreased until inoperative as the diameter of the constant area section reduced. The results of this investigation provided a good solution for the refrigeration application of the steam ejector refrigeration system powered by an extra low-temperature heat source.     

Exergy analysis on combustion and energy conversion processes

When we consider exergy analysis on combustion and thermodynamic processes, we introduce another concept against energy analysis, which is supported by an evaluation of its temperature level. When a higher temperature energy than that an ambient level is taken into consideration, it can be put for some domestic or industrial purpose. A medium temperature energy of 30–60 °C is used for domestic heating, and a high temperature of 200 °C and above is suitable for power generation or process heating. Therefore, we study exergy concept supported by temperature level. When we discuss power generation, a high temperature energy of 1500 °C and above in combined cycle has a higher conversion efficiency than that of 500–600 °C in steam cycle. If we try to apply high temperature air combustion, a preheated air temperature of 1000 °C and above can be produced by exhaust heat recovery from stack gas, which has been developed as a new technology of energy conservation. In this study, the authors present an exergy analysis on combustion and energy conversion processes, which is based on the above-mentioned concept of exergy and energy supported by temperature level. When we discuss high temperature air combustion in furnace, this process shows a higher performance than that of the ambient air combustion. Furthermore, when we discuss the power generation and heat pump processes, the minimum ambient temperature would already be known for each season, and the conversion performance can be estimated by the maximum operating temperature in their cycles. So, the authors attempt to calculate the exergy and energy values for combustion, power generation and heat pump processes.     

Performance of ejector cooling system with thermal pumping effect using R141b and R365mfc

The ejector cooling system (ECS) is suitable for solar cooling application due to its simple design and low cost. An ECS using a multi-function generator (ECS/MFG) as a thermal pumping device without rotating machines for refrigerant circulation has been designed and tested. The experiment of an ECS/MFG operating at full-cycle while using R141b has shown that the COP_o can reach 0.225 and cooling capacity of 0.75 kW at generator temperature 90 °C, condenser temperature 37 °C, and evaporator temperature 8.5 °C. The present study also redesigned the ejector for working fluid R365mfc in order to replace R141b. This study has shown that R365mfc can replace R141b as the working fluid of ECS/MFG at no payoff of system performance as long as the ejector design is optimized.     

An experimental study of a direct expansion ground‐coupled heat pump system in heating mode

In this paper, an experimental performance evaluation of a direct expansion ground‐coupled heat pump (DX‐GCHP) system in heating mode is presented. The DX‐GCHP uses R134a as the refrigerant, and consists of three single U‐tube copper ground heat exchangers (GHEs) placed in three 30 m vertical boreholes. During the on–off operations from December 25, 2007, to February 6, 2008, the heat pump supplied hot water to fan‐coil at around 50.4°C, and its heating capacity was about 6.43 kW. The energy‐based heating coefficient of performance (COP) values of the heat pump and the whole system were found to be on average 3.55 and 3.28 at an evaporating temperature of 3.14°C and a condensing temperature of 53.4°C, respectively. The second law efficiency on the DX‐GCHP unit basis was around 0.36. The exergetic COP values of the heat pump and the whole system were obtained to be 0.599 and 0.553 (the reference state temperature was set equal to the average outdoor temperature of ?1.66°C during the tests), respectively. The authors also discussed some practical points such as the heat extraction rate from the ground, refrigerant charge and two possible new configurations to simultaneously deal with maldistribution and instability of parallel GHE evaporators. This paper may reveal insights that will aid more efficient design and improvement for potential investigators, designers and operators of such DX‐GCHP systems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance modeling of air cycle heat pump water heater in cold climate

Air (reverse Brayton) cycle has promising features in cold climate heat pump applications. In this study, an air cycle heat pump water heater (ACHPWH) simulation model considering the off-design performance of components was developed and validated with experimental data from literature. With this model, the performance of ACHPWH was numerically compared with two typical vapor compression heat pump water heaters (VCHPWH) under two different heating schemes, namely instantaneous heating and recirculation heating. For instantaneous heating, the COP of ACHPWH is comparable to that of VCHPWH when supplying high temperature water or operating at low ambient temperature. A significant improvement on annual performance would be achieved as well if higher efficient compressor and expander were applied in ACHPWH system. For recirculation heating, although the COP gap got larger, ACHPWH would save plenty of heating time when operating at low ambient temperature.     

A study on the performance enhancement of heat pump using electric heater under the frosting condition: Heat pump under frosting condition

The purpose of the present study is to enhance the heating capacity and increase COP under the frosting condition during heating operation of small capacity air-to-air heat pump. We applied an electric heater in front of outdoor unit of heat pump instead of indoor unit as usual. When the outdoor temperature is 2 °C/1 °C (DB/WB), the present heat pump turns on the electric heater in outdoor unit. The heating capacity increases 38.0% and COP increases 57.0% in comparison with those of conventional heat pump. When the outdoor temperature is 4 °C/2 °C (DB/WB), the electric heater is in ON/OFF mode according to the temperature of the evaporator. The heating capacity increases 9.1% and COP increases 71.1% in comparison with those of conventional heat pump.     

Design of solar powered adsorption heat pump with ice storage

The design and performance of a solar (and/or natural gas) powered adsorption (desiccant-vapor) heat pump for residential cooling (and heating) is described. The entire system is modeled and analyzed: adsorption heat pump itself, ice thermal storage reservoir, and solar collectors. The adsorption heat pump embodies patent pending improvements to the state-of-the-art which elevate coefficient of performance for cooling from a maximum of 1.2 reported in the literature to a conservatively predicted minimum of 1.5. The adsorption device utilizes economical, robust configurations (shell-and-tube) and components (helical annular finned tubes, multi-lumen tubes) commonly employed in heat exchangers in a manner heretofore untried, as well as other enhancements (metal wool to diffuse heat throughout the adsorbent). The vessel is all aluminum and the adsorbent-refrigerant pair is carbon-ammonia. The ice reservoir provides 24 h cooling. Two types of solar collector are determined to be satisfactory at the selected operating temperature of 170 °C: (1) compound parabolic concentrator with high concentration ratio (10+) and automatic tilt adjustment, and (2) evacuated (0.001 atm) flat panel, similar to atmospheric pressure versions employed for domestic water heating.     

A small-scale silica gel-water adsorption system for domestic air conditioning and water heating by the recovery of solar energy

A small-scale silica gel-water adsorption system with modular adsorber, which utilizes solar energy to achieve the cogeneration of domestic air conditioning and water heating effect, is proposed and investigated in this paper. A heat recovery process between two adsorbers and a mass recovery process between two evaporators are adopted to improve the overall cooling and heating performance. First, the adsorption system is tested under different modes (different mass recovery, heat recovery, and cogeneration time) to determine the optimal operating conditions. Then, the cogeneration performance of domestic cooling and water heating effect is studied at different heat transfer fluid temperatures. The results show that the optimal time for cogeneration, mass recovery, and heat recovery are 600 s, 40 s, and 40 s, respectively. When the inlet temperature of hot water is around 85°C, the largest cooling power and heating power are 8.25 kW and 21.94 kW, respectively. Under the condition of cooling water temperature of 35°C, the obtained maximum COP_c, COP_h, and SCP of the system are 0.59, 1.39, and 184.5 W/kg, respectively.     

Correlations for cost of ground‐source heat pumps and for the effect of temperature on their performance

Ground source heat pump systems are becoming more and more popular, even though their high initial cost is an obstacle to their wider penetration of the heating and cooling market. The purchase of the heat pump itself is one of the dominant costs, and the heat pump selection also influences the operation costs through its coefficient of performance (COP) value. However, few studies are available on this topic. Based on 23 water–water heat pump models available on the market, a correlation was developed to estimate their purchase cost as a function of the nominal cooling load of the heat pump. These heat pumps can be used in geothermal applications as well as in other heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems. The correlation is valid for a nominal cooling load between 20 and 841 kW. The nominal COP of the heat pumps was found to have virtually no effect on their purchase costs. Also, two correlations were developed to relate variations of cooling power and COP to the temperature levels on both sides of the heat pump. The heating mode is also considered. The correlations are useful to estimate the required nominal size of a heat pump given design operating conditions and to optimize ground source heat pump systems from a techno‐economical standpoint. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical Simulation of the Performance of a Capillary Thermal Driven Ejector Refrigerator

A capillary driven ejector refrigerator is a new refrigeration system that can use solar energy and other low-grade heat sources. In this paper, the performance of the refrigeration system is simulated numerically by use of an iteration algorithm and block exchanging technology for all unit models. The flow and heat transfer characteristics in a solar collector, generator, ejector, condenser, and evaporator are analyzed and calculated. The results show that when the generating temperature is higher than 75–80°C and the environmental temperature is lower than 35°C, the system can work normally; the coefficient of performance of this refrigeration system is in the range of 0.05–0.15 by use of water as a refrigerant. The cooling capacity and COP increase with an increasing generative temperature and decreasing condensing pressure.