Design and analysis of a novel dual source vapor injection heat pump using exhaust and ambient air

A novel dual source vapor injection heat pump(DSVIHP)using exhaust and ambient air is proposed.The air exhausted from the building first releases energy to the medium-pressure evaporator and is then mixed with the ambient air to heat the low-pressure evaporator.A vapor injection(VI)compressor of two inlets is connected with the low and medium pressure evaporators.It’s first time that a VI compressor is employed to recover the ventilation heat.The system can minimize the ventilation heat loss and provide a unique defrosting approach by using the exhaust waste heat.Fundamentals of the proposed DSVIHP are illustrated.Mathematical models are built.Both energetic and exergetic analyses are carried out under variable conditions.The results indicate that the DSVIHP has superior thermodynamic performance.The superiority is more appreciable at a lower ambient temperature.It has a higher COP than the conventional vapor injection heat pump and air source heat pump by 11.3%and 23.2%respectively at an ambient temperature of-10°C and condensation temperature of 45°C.The waste heat recovery ratio from the exhaust air is more than 100%.The novel DSVIHP has great potential in the cold climate area application.

A four-dimensional interaction-based appraisal approach towards the performance enhancement of a vehicular waste heat recovery system

The non-linear multifactorial impacts on fuel-saving potential constrain the practical performance of the vehicular waste heat recovery system(WHRS). This study proposed a four-dimensional interaction-based appraisal approach to interpreting these impacts for enhancing WHRS's in-vehicle performance. The interaction incorporates a heat exchanger, configuration, engine,and vehicle. The proposed approach comprises two successive steps, emphasizing evaluation under the rated(Step 1) and off-design(Step 2) heat source conditions. A case study of waste heat recovery from a passenger vehicle was conducted to evaluate the in-vehicle performance of a novel co-split system and two single-split ones(with/without a regenerator) through this approach. The novel system theoretically modifies vehicular performance but remains ambiguous concerning real-world behaviour, which is assessed and verified by the proposed approach. Two key factors determining vehicular performance were identified by Step 1, namely, net power output and engine backpressure. As the co-split system modified both factors, its fuel-saving potential could be increased by up to 20.3% compared with single-split systems. Also, the limiting factor for off-design performance was pinpointed by Step 2, namely, the mismatch between the heat source and working fluid, which led to the solution, i.e., the synergistic split regulation of the working fluid and heat source. An up to 8.8% improvement in net power output was achieved by the co-split system at off-design heat sources compared with fixed split ratios. Consequently, the approach enables holistic performance improvement of the vehicular WHRS under design/off-design heat source conditions.

Numerical simulation for pulsed laser-gas tungsten arc hybrid welding of magnesium alloy

Based on the extended application of COMSOL multiphysics, a novel dual heat source model for pulsed laser-gas tungsten arc （GTA） hybrid welding was established. This model successfully solved the problem of simulation inaccuracy caused by energy superposition effect between laser and arc due to their different physical characteristics. Numerical simulation for pulsed laser-GTA hybrid welding of magnesium alloy process was conducted, and the simulation indicated good agree- ments with the measured thermal cycle curve and the shape of weld beads. Effects of pulse laser parameters （laser-excited current, pulse duration, and pulse frequency） on the temperature field and weld pool morphology were investigated. The experimental and simulation results suggest that when the laser pulse energy keeps constant, welding efficiency of the hybrid heat source is increased by increasing laser current or decreasing pulse duration due to the increased ratio of the weld bead depth to width. With large laser currents, severe spatters tend to occur. For optimized welding process, the laser current should be controlled in the range of 150-175 A, the pulse duration should be longer than 1 ms, and the pulse frequency should be equal to or slightly greater than 20 Hz.