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.     

Refrigerant injection for heat pumping/air conditioning systems: Literature review and challenges discussions

This paper reviews the major research on refrigerant injection techniques in detail. Liquid and vapor refrigerant injection techniques are discussed and compared. The current research on refrigerant injection techniques falls into two categories: system level research and component level research. The system level research is focused on low ambient temperature heating, heat pump water heating, high ambient temperature cooling, cycle comparison, and control strategy development. Internal heat exchanger and flash tank cycles are the two typical cycles for refrigerant injection. These two cycles are discussed and compared in detail. The component level research is focused on employing different types of compressors, variable speed compressors, the injection process, and the flash tank. Different types of compressors employing refrigerant injection are presented. Based on the literature study, the potential future research directions are presented and discussed. The flash tank cycle control strategy and refrigerant charge management strategy are worth further research efforts. Compressor design can be improved in order to optimize the performance with refrigerant injection. The appropriate design of flash tanks plays a vital role in achieving appropriate two-phase flow patterns in the flash tank. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling can be a useful tool to facilitate the design of the flash tank.     

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.     

Recent advances in vapor compression cycle technologies

This paper comprehensively reviews the recent studies on advanced vapor compression cycle technologies. These technologies are categorized in three groups: subcooling cycles, expansion loss recovery cycles, and multi-stage cycles. The subcooling cycle research is focused on a suction-line heat exchanger, thermoelectric subcooler and mechanical subcooler. The expansion loss recovery cycles are mainly focused on utilizing an expander and ejector. The multi-stage cycle research includes a vapor or liquid refrigerant injection cycle, two-phase refrigerant injection cycle. All these advanced vapor compression cycle technology options are reviewed, and their effects are discussed. In recent years, the research and development have been made to improve the performance of the VCC. This paper presents the improved cycle options and their comprehensive review. From the review results, several future research needs were suggested.     

Transient and steady-state experimental investigation of flash tank vapor injection heat pump cycle control strategy

Recent research on vapor injection technique has been mostly focused on performance improvement using different system configurations. The flash tank cycle typically shows better performance than the internal heat exchanger cycle. However, the flash tank cycle control strategy is not yet clearly defined. In this study, a novel cycle control strategy is proposed for an R-410A vapor injection flash tank heat pump system and its feasibility was experimentally investigated. The proposed novel cycle control strategy utilized an electronic expansion valve (EEV) for the upper-stage expansion and a thermostatic expansion valve for the lower-stage expansion, and applied an electric heater in the vapor injection line to introduce superheat to the injected vapor by providing a control signal to the upper-stage EEV. Both transient and steady-state system behaviors were studied. The proposed cycle control strategy was found to be able to provide reliable control to the system.     

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。     

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.     

Research on air-source heat pump coupled with economized vapor injection scroll compressor and ejector

The performance of the heat pump can be improved further when running under low temperature conditions when an ejector is used in a heat pump system coupled with economized vapor injection (EVI) scroll compressor. In this paper, the design method of the heat pump system with ejector (EVIe) is presented, and the process for designing the heat pump with ejector has been summarized. The optimal location of the vapor injection inlets is at the place where the vapor can inject into the working chambers when they just be closed. The reasonable value for the entrainment ratio u of the ejector is between 0.1 and 0.2. One prototype heat pump was designed under the condition of the evaporation temperature of −20 °C, and an experimental setup was established to test the prototype. The measured results demonstrated that the heating EER of the heat pump system with ejector could reach about 4% higher than that of the system without ejector when the heating capacity remained nearly constant.     

A theoretical study on a novel combined power and ejector refrigeration cycle

A new combined power and refrigeration cycle is proposed for the cogeneration, which combines the Rankine cycle and the ejector refrigeration cycle by adding an extraction turbine between heat recovery vapor generator (HRVG) and ejector. This combined cycle could produce both power output and refrigeration output simultaneously, and could be driven by the flue gas from gas turbine or engine, solar energy, geothermal energy and industrial waste heats. Parametric analysis and exergy analysis are conducted to examine the effects of thermodynamic parameters on the performance and exergy destruction in each component for the combined cycle. The results show that the condenser temperature, the evaporator temperature, the turbine inlet pressure, the turbine extraction pressure and extraction ratio have significant effects on the turbine power output, refrigeration output, exergy efficiency and exergy destruction in each component in the combined cycle. It is also shown that the biggest exergy destruction occurs in the heat recovery vapor generator, followed by the ejector and turbine.     

Hybrid vapor compression refrigeration system with an integrated ejector cooling cycle

A refrigeration system was developed which combines a basic vapor compression refrigeration cycle with an ejector cooling cycle. The ejector cooling cycle is driven by the waste heat from the condenser in the vapor compression refrigeration cycle. The additional cooling capacity from the ejector cycle is directly input into the evaporator of the vapor compression refrigeration cycle. The governing equations are derived based on energy and mass conservation in each component including the compressor, ejector, generator, booster and heat exchangers. The system performance is first analyzed for the on-design conditions. The results show that the COP is improved by 9.1% for R22 system. The system is then compared with a basic refrigeration system for variations of five important variables. The system analysis shows that this refrigeration system can effectively improve the COP by the ejector cycle with the refrigerant which has high compressor discharge temperature.     

一种新型跨临界CO2冷电联供系统热力分析

提出一种新型跨临界二氧化碳（trans-critical carbon dioxide,TCO₂）再压缩循环和喷射器制冷循环耦合的冷电联供系统。该系统在输出电能的同时,利用低品位热能驱动喷射器工作输出冷量。以输出电量1 MW为设计目标,对比冷电联供系统和再压缩发电系统的性能,研究联供系统各部件（火用）损和主要热力参数对其性能的影响。结果表明：联供系统利用CO₂余热驱动喷射器输出冷量,循环热效率高于单一再压缩系统;加热器（火用）损所占比例最大,回热器次之;透平进口温度、压力和背压对联供系统工质流量、循环效率、输出功率、加热器功率、压缩机耗功及喷射器制冷量等参数影响较大;而冷凝温度和蒸发温度仅对制冷循环制冷量影响较大。在设定条件下,联供系统的循环热效率和（火用）效率可分别达到46.99%和47.21%。     

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.     

Thermal and exergoeconomic analysis of a novel solar driven combined power and ejector refrigeration (CPER) system

In the present study, a novel solar driven combined power and ejector refrigeration system (CPER) of 50 kW power capacity composed of an ORC (organic Rankine cycle) and an ejector refrigeration system is investigated. Solar driven CPER system is composed of two main cycles: collector cycle and refrigeration cycle. The collector cycle is made of a U-tube ETC and circulation pump and the ejector refrigeration cycle consists of generator, turbine, ejector, heat exchanger, condenser, evaporator, expansion valve, and pump. Thermodynamic performance of the proposed CPER system is evaluated and a thermo-economic analysis is conducted using the SPECO (specific exergy costing) method. A parametric study showed the effects of condenser temperature, evaporator temperature, generator pressure, turbine back pressure and turbine extraction ratio. The genetic algorithm optimization analysis is conducted which shows 25.5% improvement in thermal energy, 21.27% in exergy efficiency, and 7.76% reduction in the total cost of the CPER system. The results reveal that the performance of the CPER system is considerably improved at higher temperatures of generator and evaporator.     

双分层水箱太阳能喷射制冷循环特性

本文提出一种采用双分层水箱的太阳能喷射制冷循环,分层水箱热分层显著,颇具可用能储存优势,结合大小水箱各自的优势弥补因太阳日辐射量波动而导致太阳能利用率不高、太阳能驱动的喷射制冷效率较低等问题。采用逐时冷负荷分析法分析了双分层水箱太阳能喷射制冷系统特性,结果表明:该制冷循环高品位能耗约为普通机械压缩制冷循环的1/5,较传统水箱太阳能喷射制冷循环全天工作时间约多4 h,日产冷量提高36.8%,且分层水箱喷射制冷系统的逐时制冷量与办公室逐时冷负荷更吻合。     

滚动转子式补气压缩机在热泵系统中的实验研究

介绍了滚动转子式补气压缩机的设计,并将其在热泵系统中进行了实验研究。分析了不同制热工况下滚动转子式补气压缩机的性能,对比了带闪发器与过冷器的经济器热泵系统、滚动转子式与涡旋式补气压缩机的性能。结果表明:随着室外环境温度的下降,滚动转子式补气压缩机补气后制热量提升比例逐步增大;滚动转子式补气压缩机制热实验中,带闪发器系统的制热量较高;在超低温制热工况下滚动转子式补气压缩机制热量提升18%左右,与涡旋式补气压缩机相比制热量相当,性能略高。     

First and second law investigation of waste heat based combined power and ejector-absorption refrigeration cycle

In the proposed cogeneration cycle, a LiBr-H₂O absorption refrigeration system is employed to the combined power and ejector refrigeration system which uses R141b as a working fluid. Estimates for irreversibilities of individual components of the cycle lead to possible measures for performance improvement. Results of exergy distribution of waste heat in the cycle show that around 53.6% of the total input exergy is destroyed due to irreversibilities in the components, 22.7% is available as a useful exergy output, and 23.7% is exhaust exergy lost to the environment, whereas energy distribution shows 44% is exhaust energy and 19.7% is useful energy output. Results also show that proposed cogeneration cycle yields much better thermal and exergy efficiencies than the previously investigated combined power and ejector cooling cycle. Current investigation clearly show that the second law analysis is quantitatively visualizes losses within a cycle and gives clear trends for optimization.     

Investigation of ejector-equipped Joule–Thomson refrigerator operating below 77 K

The lowest attainable refrigeration temperature of a nitrogen based Joule–Thomson refrigerator is generally limited to 77 K since the compressor suction pressure is usually higher than atmospheric pressure. The Joule–Thomson process with an ejector is proposed to achieve a refrigeration temperature as low as 68 K by adjusting the evaporation pressure down to 28 kPa and boosting the return stream pressure up to 147 kPa. A one-dimensional numerical model is developed to predict the performance of the ejector at cryogenic temperature, and its accuracy is compared with experimental data. The analysis results show that the addition of the ejector in the Joule–Thomson refrigeration cycle increases up to 5 times the overall efficiency, where the maximum achievable COP and exergy efficiency are 0.0195 and 6.65%, respectively. Other featured advantages of the proposed Joule–Thomson refrigeration cycle with ejector are the simplicity of cycle, minimization of mechanical moving components, cost effectiveness, and high reliability compared to other cryogenic refrigeration methods using pumps or cold compressors in Joule–Thomson cycles.     

Ejector expansion refrigeration system: Ejector design and performance evaluation

Use of a two-phase flow ejector as an expansion device in vapor compression refrigeration systems is one of the efficient ways to enhance its performance. The present work aims to design a constant-area two phase flow ejector and to evaluate performance characteristics of the ejector expansion refrigeration system working with R134a. In order to achieve these objectives, a simulation program is developed and effects of operating conditions and ejector internal efficiencies on the system performance are investigated using EES software. Comparison between present results and published experimental data revealed that the developed model can predict the system COP with a maximum error of 2.3%. The system COP increased by 87.5% as evaporation temperature changed from −10 °C to 10 °C. Finally, correlations to size ejector main diameters as a function of operating conditions, system cooling capacity and ejector internal efficiencies are reported.     

On-field measurement method of vapor injection heat pump system

This paper examines air-to-air injection heat pumps (HPs) and proposes a method to determine both heating capacity and coefficient of performance (COP) in situ, allowing analyses of already-installed setups and long-term observation. Due to the uncertain nature of air enthalpy measurements, this method instead uses refrigerant enthalpies calculated from pipe contact temperatures and steady-state energy balances to determine the COP. However, these energy balances are highly dependent on the hypothesis that the working fluid remains strictly monophasic in certain locations, which is not always true in practice. A parametric variable analysis is conducted on the refrigerant vapor quality to calculate the deviation in the COP due to diphasic conditions at the compressor inlet, injection port, and condenser and flash tank outlets. A final in situ COP uncertainty is presented, due to both the measurement and vapor quality uncertainties.     

Two-stage heat pump system with vapor-injected scroll compressor using R410A as a refrigerant

Refrigerant vapor-injection technique has been well justified to improve the performance of systems in refrigeration applications. However, it has not received much attention for air conditioning applications, particularly for air conditioning in hot climates and for heat pumping in cold climates. In this study, the performance of an 11 kW R410A heat pump system with a two-stage vapor-injected scroll compressor was experimentally investigated. The vapor-injected scroll compressor was tested with the cycle options of both flash tank and internal heat exchanger configurations. A cooling capacity gain of around 14% with 4% COP improvement at the ambient temperature of 46.1 °C and about 30% heating capacity improvement with 20% COP gain at the ambient temperature of −17.8 °C were found for the vapor-injected R410A heat pump system as compared to the conventional system which has the same compressor displacement volume.