Effects of vapor injection techniques on the heating performance of a CO2 heat pump at low ambient temperatures

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of vapor injection techniques on the heating performance of a CO₂ heat pump. The performances of the flash tank vapor injection (FTVI), sub-cooler vapor injection (SCVI) and FTVI with a suction line heat exchanger (FTSX) cycles were measured and analyzed with variations of the outdoor temperature, compressor frequency, and injection mass flow rate. At the outdoor temperature of −15 °C and compressor frequency of 55 Hz, the heating capacity and COP of the optimized SCVI cycle were 12.1% and 12.7% higher than those of the optimized FTVI cycle, respectively, because the total mass flow rate in the SCVI cycle was higher than that in the FTVI cycle by the large temperature and pressure differences in the sub-cooler of the SCVI cycle. In addition, the optimum injection flow rate ratios in the vapor injection CO₂ cycles yielding the maximum COP were determined at various compressor frequencies.     

Mathematical modeling and thermodynamic investigation of the use of two-phase ejectors for work recovery and liquid recirculation in refrigeration cycles

This paper presents the results of a numerical investigation on the performance of ejector cycles in which the work recovered is used to recirculate liquid through the evaporator. The ejector recirculation cycle, in which the ejector is only used to recirculate liquid and improve evaporator performance, and the standard ejector cycle, in which the ejector can be used to both recirculate liquid and directly unload the compressor, are investigated. The analysis uses a microchannel evaporator and refrigerants R134a, R410A, and CO₂. It is seen that fluids that have large throttling loss but gain little benefit from liquid recirculation (CO₂) should use the ejector to directly unload the compressor, while fluids that have lower throttling loss but gain significant benefit from liquid recirculation (R134a) should use the ejector to improve evaporator performance through liquid recirculation. It is also seen that the ejector recirculation cycle is better suited for ejector off-design operation.     

Thermodynamic investigation and optimization of novel ejector-expansion CO2/NH3 cascade refrigeration cycles (novel CO2/NH3 cycle)

The present study thermodynamically evaluated the ejector utilization's impact on the performance of the cascade cycle that uses CO₂ and NH₃ as refrigerants. The theoretical analysis on the functional features based on the first and second laws of the thermodynamics illustrates the facts that the maximum cop and the maximum second law efficiency are on average7 and 5 percent higher than the conventional cycle. However, the exergy destruction rates roughly 8 percent lower as compared to the conventional cycle. Therefore, the novel ejector-expansion cascade cycle is a promising refrigeration cycle from the thermodynamically and practical points of view. A linear regression through the terms of T_eva, T_cond, ΔT yields to three useful correlations for maximum COP, maximum second law efficiency, and in accordance with their optimal temperature.     

Energy and exergy analysis of zeotropic mixture R290/R600a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle with separation condensation

This paper proposes a modified vapor-compression refrigeration cycle (MVRC) system operating with the zeotropic mixture R290/R600a for domestic refrigerator-freezers. In the MVRC system, a phase separator is introduced to enhance the overall system performance. A theoretical energy and exergy analysis on the performance of the MVRC is carried out by using the developed mathematical model, and then compared with that of the traditional vapor-compression refrigeration cycle (TVRC) operating with the refrigerant R600a and the zeotropic mixture R290/R600a, respectively. According to the simulation results of these two cycles, the MVRC can give the most excellent performances in the COP (coefficient of performance), the volumetric refrigeration capacity, the total exergy destruction and the exergetic efficiency under the same given operating conditions. Therefore, the performance characteristics of the MVRC may show its promise in domestic refrigerator-freezer applications.     

The performance of a transcritical CO2 cycle with an internal heat exchanger for hot water heating

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of a transcritical CO₂ cycle with an internal heat exchanger for hot water heating. Performance test and simulation have been carried out for a transcritical CO₂ cycle by varying secondary heat transfer fluid temperatures at evaporator and gas-cooler inlets as well as the discharge pressure. Variations of mass flow rate of refrigerant, compressor power, heating capacity, and co-efficient of performance (COP) with respect to the length of an internal heat exchanger are presented at various operating conditions. Good quantitative agreement between model predictions and experimental results has been found; most parameters have absolute average deviations of less than 4%. As the length of the internal heat exchanger increases, COP is enhanced but heating capacity tends to decrease due to the trade-offs between the effectiveness and pressure drop in the internal heat exchanger.     

Cooling performance of a variable speed CO2 cycle with an electronic expansion valve and internal heat exchanger

The cooling performance of a CO₂ cycle must be improved to develop a competitive air-conditioning system with the conventional air-conditioners using HFCs. In this study, the cooling performance of a variable speed CO₂ cycle was measured and analyzed by varying the refrigerant charge amount, compressor frequency, EEV opening, and length of an internal heat exchanger (IHX). The basic CO₂ system without the IHX showed the maximum cooling COP of 2.1 at the compressor discharge pressure of 9.2 MPa and the optimum normalized charge of 0.282. The cooling COP decreased with the increase of compressor frequency at all normalized charges. The optimum EEV opening increased with compressor frequency. Simultaneous control of EEV opening and compressor frequency allowed optimum control of the compressor discharge pressure. The optimal compressor discharge pressure of the modified CO₂ cycle with the IHX was reduced by 0.5 MPa. The IHX increased the cooling capacity and COP of the CO₂ cycle by 6.2–11.9% and 7.1–9.1%, respectively, at the tested compressor frequencies from 40 to 60 Hz.