Thermodynamic analyses on an ejector enhanced CO2 transcritical heat pump cycle with vapor-injection

In this paper, an ejector enhanced vapor injection CO₂ transcritical heat pump cycle with sub-cooler (ESCVI) for heating application in cold regions is proposed. The thermodynamic analysis using energetic and exegetic methods is carried out to predict the performance characteristics of the ejector enhanced cycle, and then compared with those of the conventional vapor injection heat pump cycle with sub-cooler (SCVI). The simulation results demonstrate that the ejector enhanced cycle exhibits better performance than the conventional vapor injection cycle under the specified operating conditions. The improvements of the maximum system COP and volumetric heating capacity could reach up to 7.7% and 9.5%, respectively. Exergetic analysis indicates that the largest exergy destruction ratio is generated at the compressor followed by the evaporator and gas cooler. Additionally, the exergy efficiency of the ejector is introduced to quantify the effectiveness of the exergy recovery process, which may be a new criterion to evaluate the performance of the ejector enhanced vapor compression cycle.     

Modeling of a novel spool compressor with multiple vapor refrigerant injection ports

A model of a novel rotary spool compressor has been developed to explore the effect of multiple injection ports on compressor and cycle performance. The thermodynamic model includes the effects of heat transfer and leakage and is numerically solved to predict the compressor power consumption and mass flow rate. Saturated vapor injection is modeled assuming that the injection pressures and the timing of the injection process can be controlled.The model predicts that adding a single injection port will provide a 12% increase in the cycle coefficient of performance (COP) when the compressor runs at 1907 rpm with R-22 evaporating at ?7 °C, condensing at 49 °C, and 15 °C of superheat. Adding a second, non-optimized injection port increases the COP by 16% compared to the cycle without injection. The model is used to investigate the effect of injection pressure, port location, and port diameter on cycle performance.     

Investigation of R-744 Voorhees transcritical heat pump system

Using economizer in R-744 heat pump cycle is an effective way to improve the heating capacity in cold climates. In this paper, a modification construction of reciprocating compressor with economizer port, a Voorhees compressor was introduced and the heat pump cycle with Voorhees economizer was compared with the traditional screw or scroll economizer cycles. Both the R-744 transcritical heat pumps with and without Voorhees economizer were tested at the same conditions with different air mass flow rates and different evaporating temperatures. The results show that the heating capacity of the heat pump with Voorhees economizer can be two times higher than the transcritical heat pump without economizer at low evaporating temperature conditions. At the same capacity operation conditions, the efficiency of the heat pump with Voorhees economizer is higher at high refrigerant mass flow rate conditions. The optimum discharge pressure of the heat pump with Voorhees economizer is found to be higher than the heat pump without economizer at the same ambient conditions. For mobile heat pump application, CO₂ transcritical heat pump with Voorhees economizer demonstrates better performance comparing to the conventional transcritical CO₂ heat pump without economizer when the evaporating temperature is lower than −20 °C, or when the mobile is idling with low compressor RPM.     

The effect of refrigerant combinations on performance of a vapor compression refrigeration system with dedicated mechanical sub-cooling

Performance characteristics due to use of different refrigerant combinations in vapor compression cycles with dedicated mechanical sub-cooling are investigated. For scratch designs, R134a used in both cycles produced the best results in terms of COP, COP gain and relative compressor sizing. In retrofit cases, considering the high sensitivity of COP to the relative size of heat exchangers in the sub-cooler cycle and the low gain in COP obtained due to installation of a dedicated sub-cooling cycle when R717 is the main cycle refrigerant, it seems that dedicated mechanical sub-cooling may be more suited to cycles using R134a as the main cycle refrigerant rather than R717. With R134a as the main cycle refrigerant, no major difference was noted, by changing the sub-cooler cycle refrigerant, in the degradation of the performance parameters such as COP and cooling capacity, due to equal fouling of the heat exchangers.     

Modeling and simulation of the transcritical CO2 heat pump system

In this study, a CO₂ transcritical cycle model without imposing any excessive constraints such as fixed discharge pressure and suction pressure is developed. The detailed geometrical variation of the gas cooler and the evaporator have been taken into account. The model is validated with the experimental measurements. Parametric influences on the CO₂ system with regard to the effect of dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, inlet water temperature, compressor speed, and the capillary tube length are reported. The COP increases with the dry bulb temperature or the inlet relative humidity of the evaporator. Despite the refrigerant mass flowrate may be increased with the inlet water temperature, the COP declines considerably with it. Increasing the compressor speed leads to a higher heating capacity and to a much lower COP. Unlike those of the conventional sub-critical refrigerant, the COP of the transcritical CO₂ cycle does not reveal a maximum value against the capillary tube length.     

Comparison of the heating performance of air-source heat pumps using various types of refrigerant injection

The performance degradation of air-source heat pumps cannot be avoided when they operate at both very low and high ambient temperatures. The refrigerant injection technique has rapidly developed in recent years due to its outstanding performance at low ambient temperatures. This study measured the heating performance of air-source heat pumps in which novel vapor injection techniques of a combined flash tank and sub-cooler (FTSC) cycle and a double expansion sub-cooler (DESC) cycle were applied. The performance of these cycles was compared with that of a flash tank (FT) and a sub-cooler (SC) cycle. The average heating capacities of the FT, FTSC, and DESC cycles were higher by 14.4%, 6.0%, and 3.8%, respectively, relative to that of the SC cycle, but the average COPs for the respective cycle options were very similar.     

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.     

Performance investigation of multi-stage saturation cycle with natural working fluids and low GWP working fluids

Improving the efficiency of a vapor compression cycle and using low GWP working fluids have become more important than ever due to the environmental concerns. A saturation cycle consisting of saturation compression and saturation expansion was proposed in order to improve a vapor compression cycle performance by reducing thermodynamic losses associated with single phase gas compression and isenthalpic expansion. The saturation cycle can be approached by multi-stage cycles with two-phase refrigerant injection. In this paper, the performance of saturation cycle was theoretically investigated for low GWP working fluids including natural fluids under ASHRAE standard operating conditions and extreme heating condition. The simulation results indicate that the benefit of using the multi-stage cycle is higher for the cycle with higher pressure ratio. When the saturation cycle technique (four-stage cycle) is applied, the COP improvements of D2Y60 (mixture of R32 and R1234yf), CO₂ and propane are 46.9%, 43.2% and 38.2%, respectively under extreme heating condition.     

Regenerated air cycle potentials in heat pump applications

Air (reversed Brayton) cycle has been utilized in the area of refrigeration and cryogenics for several decades, but its potentials in heat pump applications were longtime underestimated. In this paper, a thermodynamic model for the regenerated air heat pump cycle with practical compressor, expander and regenerated heat exchanger was developed. Based on the model, the relations between the system performance and the operating parameters were analyzed. The optimal heating COP (coefficient of performance) and the corresponding pressure ratio were derived. Then, air heat pump cycles (regenerated cycle and basic cycle) and vapor-compression heat pump cycles (CO₂ trans-critical cycle and R410A subcritical cycle) were numerically compared. The results indicated that the regenerated air heat pump cycle not only gets the heating capacity in line with the heating load under different operating conditions but also achieves higher COP over trans-critical CO₂ heat pump cycle in applications of large temperature difference.     

空气源热泵自然冷源过冷制热性能实验研究

冬季我国北方室外环境蕴含大量天然冷源,热力学分析表明热泵工质过冷释放的热量可以在蒸发器的等温吸热过程中获得补偿。为了研究大气自然冷源对热泵制热性能的影响,增设室外过冷器,搭建利用自然冷源过冷的空气源热泵实验装置。实验结果表明：当室外环境温度大于0 ℃,冷凝温度小于45 ℃的条件下,自然冷源过冷对热泵制热量与制热COP影响均较小,系统制热量维持在6.22 ~ 6.70 kW,制热COP维持在3.03,压缩机排气温度维持在103 ℃以下;当室外环境温度小于 -10 ℃,冷凝温度大于50 ℃时,随过冷度的增加,压缩机功率增加、排气温度显著增高,系统制热量呈先缓慢增加后减小趋势,制热COP降至2.3。基于上述研究提出一种空气源热泵过冷融霜新型除霜方式,融霜同时不停止制热。     

Performance evaluation of a CO2 heat pump system for fuel cell vehicles considering the heat exchanger arrangements

A novel CO₂ heat pump system was provided for use in fuel cell vehicles, when considering the heat exchanger arrangements. This cycle which had an inverter-controlled, electricity-driven compressor was applied to the automotive heat pump system for both cooling and heating. The cooling and heating loops consisted of a semi-hermetic compressor, supercritical pressure microchannel heat exchangers (a gas cooler and a cabin heater), a microchannel evaporator, an internal heat exchanger, an expansion valve and an accumulator. The performance characteristics of the CO₂ heat pump system for fuel cell vehicles were analyzed by experiments. Results for steady and transient state performance were provided for various operating conditions. Furthermore, experiments to examine the arrangements of a radiator and an outdoor heat exchanger were carried out by changing their positions for both cooling and heating conditions. The arrangements of the radiator and the outdoor heat exchanger were tested to quantify cooling/heating effectiveness and mutual interference. The improvement of heating capacity and coefficient of performance (COP) of the CO₂ heat pump system was up to 54% and 22%, respectively, when using preheated air through the radiator instead of cold ambient air. However, the cooling capacity quite decreased by 40–60% and the COP fairly decreased by 43–65%, for the new radiator-front arrangement.     

Optimum cycle control of a two-stage injection heat pump with a double expansion sub-cooler

The refrigerant injection technique has rapidly developed in recent years due to its outstanding performance at low ambient temperatures, and various control methods for a heat pump with injection have been presented. However, most studies on cycle control have been theoretical, and practical control methods for cycle optimization based on experimental results hardly have been presented. In this study, an optimum cycle control method was proposed for a refrigerant injection heat pump with a double expansion sub-cooler based on the intermediate pressure and the injection ratio. The optimum sub-cooler pressure ratio was proposed from 0.4 to 0.7 in view of the heating capacity, and from 0.7 to 0.8 in view of the COP. The optimum injection ratio increased from 0.1 to 0.3 with an increase in the compression ratio.     

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.     

Approaching the performance limit for economized cycles using simplified cycles

Modifications such as economization aim to improve the efficiency of vapor compression equipment by cooling the refrigerant during the compression process. A previous study (Mathison et al., 2010) explored the theoretical limit to cycle performance with economizing, which was defined as the performance when a saturated vapor state was maintained in the compressor by continuously injecting a two-phase mixture. However, achieving continuous injection and controlling the quality of the injected refrigerant poses a substantial challenge. Therefore, the current paper investigates the ability of an economized cycle with saturated vapor injection through a finite number of ports to approach the limiting cycle performance. For an air-conditioner using R-410A with an evaporation temperature of 5 °C and a condensing temperature of 40 °C, the model predicts that injecting saturated vapor through three ports will improve the COP by 12%, which is approximately 67% of the maximum benefit provided by economizing in the limiting case.     

New characterization methodology for vapor-injection scroll compressors

This paper presents a characterization methodology for vapor-injection scroll compressors (SCVI). An SCVI was characterized in a modified calorimetric test bench, which is able to control the intermediate pressure and the injection superheat independently. Based on the characterization results, the injection mass flow rate was correlated with the intermediate pressure through a linear expression, and a modified AHRI polynomial was proposed to estimate the compressor power input. The correlations were used in a simple model to predict the intermediate conditions of the SCVI installed in a heat pump prototype with an economizer. The deviations obtained for the evaporator mass flow rate, injection mass flow rate, intermediate pressure, and compressor power input were lower than 5% in all cases. The proposed methodology allows evaluating SCVI in a wide range of operating conditions, being only dependent on compressor characteristics and totally independent of the system in which it is installed.     

Performance of a scroll compressor with vapor-injection and two-stage reciprocating compressor operating under extreme conditions

The current paper presents a comparative study between a scroll compressor with vapor-injection (SCVI) and a two-stage reciprocating compressor (TSRC) operating under extreme conditions. The present work is divided into two parts: in the first part, both compressors are compared in terms of compressor efficiency, volumetric efficiency, coefficient of performance (COP), and cooling capacity with R407C refrigerant; in the second part, the seasonal performances of both compressors working in cooling and heating modes are estimated and analyzed. Results show that the SCVI presents better efficiency and COP than the TSRC for pressure ratios below 7.5. This compressor can be used in air conditioning systems and heat pumps which work under moderate temperature conditions. For higher pressure ratios, the TSRC has better efficiency which subsequently gives higher COP. This type of compressor is more suited to be used in sanitary hot water systems operating in harsh climates and in low-temperature freezing systems (under −20°C).     

Experimental study on cooling performance of air conditioning system with dual independent evaporative condenser

Evaporative condenser is an energy efficient and environmentally friendly air conditioning equipment. This paper proposed an air conditioning system using dual independent evaporative condenser and investigated the cooling performance. Many factors, such as evaporator water inlet temperature, compressor frequency, air dry-bulb temperature, air velocity and water spray rate, which influenced the cooling performances of air conditioning system with evaporative condenser have been investigated. The results indicated that cooling capacity and coefficient of performance (COP) increased significantly with the increasing of evaporator water inlet temperature (12–25 °C), the air velocity (2.05–3.97 m s⁻¹) and the water spray rate (0.03–0.05 kg m⁻¹ s). However, COP decreased with the increasing ambient air dry-bulb temperature (31.2–35.1 °C) and the compressor frequency (50–90 Hz). Furthermore, the heat transfer coefficient (K₀) was 232–409 W m⁻² K⁻¹ in different air velocity and water spray rate.     

Experimental study on the performance of a simultaneous heating and cooling multi-heat pump with the variation of operation mode

The cooling load in the winter season becomes significant in commercial buildings and hotels because of the wide usage of office equipment and improved wall insulation. In this study, a simultaneous heating and cooling multi-heat pump having four indoor units and an outdoor unit was designed and tested in five operation modes: cooling-only, heating-only, cooling-main, heating-main, and entire heat recovery. The performance of the system with R410a was optimized by adjusting the system's control parameters. In the cooling-main mode, the rate of the bypass flow to the heating-operated indoor unit was optimized by controlling the EEV opening of the outdoor unit. In the heating-main mode, the mass flow rate to the cooling-operated indoor unit was optimized by adjusting the EEV opening in the outdoor unit. In the entire heat recovery mode, the compressor speed was controlled to improve the system COP with appropriate heating and cooling capacities.     

Theoretical study of a thermoelectric-assisted vapor compression cycle for air-source heat pump applications

This paper proposes a thermoelectric-assisted vapor compression cycle (TVCC) for applications in air-source heat pump systems which could enhance the heating capacity of the system. Performances of TVCC are calculated and then compared with that of basic vapor compression cycle (BVCC). The simulation results show that when coefficients of performance (COPs) of the two cycles are almost equal, the TVCC under maximum COP condition of the thermoelectric modules still performs better than BVCC by 13.0% in heating capacity through selecting the appropriate intermediate temperature. In addition, the TVCC can also achieve an improvement of 16.4%–21.7% in both the heating COP and capacity when compared with the BVCC with an assistant electric heater that is provided with the equivalent power input of thermoelectric heat exchanger. Thus, the TVCC could be beneficial to the applications in small heat pumps if there is always need for auxiliary electric heat.     

带闪蒸型经济器的风冷螺杆热泵机组性能的实验研究

研究了带闪蒸型经济器风冷螺杆热泵机组对制热性能的影响,理论分析了补气压力的变化对机组制热性能的影响。研究表明,带闪蒸型经济器热泵螺杆机组制热量随经济器的补气压力的减小而增大,压缩机功率也随经济器的补气压力的减小而增大,压缩机的COP随着经济器的补气压力的升高先升高再降低,存在最佳效率的补气压力点。实验测试了比最佳补气压力点偏高的经济器补气压力对机组性能的影响,理论计算结果和实测数据吻合良好。