Developing Operational Model for Heat Pumps as Space Heating and Domestic Hot Water Provider

In the United Kingdom, means of meeting domestic heating is being electrified to decarbonise in effort to reduce the greenhouse gases emissions from the burning of natural gas. Therefore, the uptake of heat pumps is on the increase. The operation and working principle of heat pumps must be well understood in the investigations of their impacts on the grid and the grid assets, especially distribution transformers which could be overloaded due to higher peak load demand. This work develops an operational model of heat pumps as combined space heating and domestic hot water provider implemented in MATLAB. The developed operational model of heat pumps is adaptable and repeatable for different input parameters. The developed model is used to generate daily average demand profiles of heat pumps for a typical winter weekday and a typical summer weekday. The generated demand profiles of heat pumps by the developed model compared well with the demand profiles of heat pumps generated from actual field projects which are usually expensive and time-tasking.

Clogging caused by coupled grain migration and compaction effect during groundwater recharge for unconsolidated sandstone reservoir in groundwater-source heat pump

In unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs,presence of numerous movable grains and a complex grain size composition necessitates a clear understanding of the physical clogging process for effective groundwater recharge in groundwater-source heat pump systems.To investigate this,a series of seepage experiments was conducted under in situ stress conditions using unconsolidated sandstone samples with varying grain compositions.The clogging phenomenon arises from the combined effects of grain migration and compaction,wherein the migration of both original and secondary crushed fine-grain particles blocks the seepage channels.Notably,grain composition influences the migration and transport properties of the grains.For samples composed of smaller grains,the apparent permeability demonstrates a transition from stability to decrease.In contrast,samples with larger grains experience a skip at the stability stage and directly enter the decrease stage,with a minor exception of a slight increase observed.Furthermore,a unique failure mode characterized by diameter shrinkage in the upper part of the sample is observed due to the combined effects of grain migration and in situ stress-induced compaction.These testing results contribute to a better understanding of the clogging mechanism caused by the coupled effects of grain migration and compaction during groundwater recharge in unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs used in groundwater-source heat pump systems.

The Application of the Ground Source and Air-to-Water Heat Pumps in Cold Climate Areas

This article gives an overview of using the ground source heat pump (GSHP) and air-to-water heat pump (A&WHP) in cold climate areas for heating and for domestic hot water production of buildings. Computer simulation and analysis were carried out for a typical detached house, with 200 m2 of living area, the heat demand of 9 kW and the average heat demand for DHW production of 1 kW. In heating period the average Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the A&WHP is considerably lower than COP of the GSHP.

Synthesis of SAPO-34/graphite composites for low temperature heat adsorption pumps

Low temperature heat adsorption pumps represent the innovative cooling systems, where cold is generated through adsorption/desorption cycle of water by a suitable adsorbent with good adsorption and high thermal conductive properties. In this work, the hydrothermal synthesis of zeolite SAPO-34 on thermal conductive grapbitic supports, aiming at the development of highly pertbrming adsorbent materials, is reported. The synthesis was carried out using as-received and oxidized commercial carbon papers, and graphite plate. Composites were characterized by XRD, SEM and also by a thermogravimetric method, using a Cahn microbalance. The water adsorbing capacity showed typical S-shape trend and the maximum water loading was around 25 wt%, a value close to water adsorption capability of pure SAPO-34. These results are very promising for their application in heat adsorption pumps.

Synthesis and Design of Distillation Columns for Wide-Boiling Binary Mixtures with Vapor Recompression Heat Pumps

The vapor recompression heat pump(VRHP) distillation technology offers significant improvements in energy efficiency for distillation systems with small temperature differences between the top and bottom of the column. However, the separation of wide-boiling binary mixtures leads to substantial temperature differences between the top and bottom of the column. This limits the applicability of conventional VRHP due to high capital costs and strict performance requirements of the compressor. To overcome these challenges and to accommodate compressor operating conditions, a novel synthesis and design method is introduced to integrate VRHPs with wide-boiling binary mixture distillation columns(WBMDCs). This method enables quick determination of an initial configuration for the integrated WBMDC-VRHP system and helps identify the optimum configuration with the minimum total annual cost. Two examples, namely the separation of benzene/toluene and isopropanol/chlorobenzene, are employed to derive optimum configurations of the WBMDC-VRHP and compare them with the WBMDC. A systematic comparison between the WBMDC-VRHP and WBMDC demonstrates the superior steady-state performance and economic efficiency of the WBMDC-VRHP.

Energy savings and CO_2 emission reduction by using geothermal heat pumps

The renewable energy will play significant role in the world primary energy consumption in the future. Geothermal energy is immense with 5 000 EJ/a of technical potential, and geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) are one of the fastest growing applications of renewable energy in the world with annual increases of 10 % and much faster in China. With high coefficient of performance (COP) up to 6, GHPs make efficiency of primary energy more than 240 % with assumed a 40 % of electricity generation efficiency, which means energy savings and CO2 emission reduction. In this paper,the geothermal resources and its utilization are talked about, and GHPs technology was introduced. Due to its high efficiency, there will be energy savings by using GHPs. There is also CO2 emission reduction because of using geothermal heat pumps, which is analyzed in the end.

Performance analysis of heat pump based on a new solar air-source heat pump heating system

To further improve the utilization efficiency of solar energy and the performance of solar heat pump heating systems,a new heating mode of a solar air-source heat pump（SASHP）is proposed,and the characteristics and performance of the heat pump part of this new heating system are studied.Based on a SASHP with 10 kW,the mathematical model of this system is built,and the characteristics and performance are concluded from the simulation analysis at different environmental temperatures and output water temperatures.The results show that the performance of heat pumps can be greatly improved based on the new SASHP.When the environmental temperature is 7 ℃,the coefficient of performance（COP）of the air-source heat pump（ASHP）can be increased by 26% at most.This paper sets up a base for further study on the heating system with this new SASHP in the heating season.

Alternate operation characteristics of a solar-ground source heat pump system

In order to investigate the alternate operation characteristics of a solar-ground source heat pump system（SGSHPS）,various alternate operation modes are put forward and defined.A two-dimensional mathematical model with freezing/melting phase changes is developed for the heat transfer analysis of the soil.Based on the numerical solution of the model,the variation trends of underground soil temperature of the SGSHPS operated in various alternate operation modes are discussed.The results indicate that,for the day-night and short-time interval alternate operation modes without solar energy,the operation time fraction of a solar heat source should be confined to from 50% to 58% when operated in an alternate period of 24 h.Meanwhile,the disadvantages of a natural resumption of soil temperature can be overcome effectively by solar energy filling,and an optimal operation effect can be achieved by integrating the mode of solar energy filling with other alternate modes.In addition,the accuracy of the presented model is verified by the experimental data of borehole wall temperatures.The conclusions can provide a reference for the optimization operation of the SGSHPS.

Development and Experimental Study of Air Source Heat Pump Water Heater

The principle and development prospect of air source heat pump water heat were introduced,as well as the designation of condenser (storage water tank),experimental study on installations was also carried out.The results showed that air source heat pump water heater was superior to conventional system.Under the operation of cooling and heating,heat pump comprehensive utilization equipment could improve heating performance,reduce energy consumption,and recycle condensing heat to provide hot water.

Feasibility analysis of urban sewage source heat pump system with freezing latent heat collection

Aiming to resolve the problem that conventional sewage source heat pump systems cannot satisfy heat peak loads of buildings,a new idea that the freezing latent heat is exacted as the auxiliary heat source at the peak heat load is proposed.First,on the basis of sewage characteristics,a freezing latent heat exchanger is developed to safely eliminate ice,continuously extract heat and remove sewage soft-dirt.A reasonable form of the urban sewage source heat pump system with freezing latent heat collection is presented.Then,the feasibility of the system is theoretically analyzed.The calculation results under typical operating conditions show that the heating ability of the new system is higher than that of the conventional one and the ratio of these two highest heating rates is between 4.5 and 8.7,which proves that the new system has great application potential in cold regions.

Performance analysis of U-vertical direct-expansion ground-source heat pump

The performance of a direct-expansion ground-source heat pump（DX GSHP）system is theoretically analyzed.Compared with the conventional ground-source heat pump（GSHP）,the DX GSHP has a lower condensing temperature in the cooling mode and a higher evaporating temperature in the heating mode,and the ground heat exchanger（GHE）in the DX GSHP has a low thermal resistance.Therefore,the coefficient of performance（COP）of the DX GSHP is higher than that of the GSHP.In addition,the system performance of the DX GSHP system is higher than that of the conventional GSHP system because there are no secondary solution loops and water circulating pumps in the DX GSHP system.The experimental energy performance of the DX GSHP system is also investigated based on the actual operational data.The tested DX GSHP system is installed in Xiangtan,China.The U-vertical GHE of the DX GSHP is buried in a water well.The length and the outside nominal diameter of the GHE are 42 m and 12.7 mm,respectively.The experimental results show that the maximum（COP）and the average COP of the DX GSHP system in the heating mode are 5.95 and 4.72,respectively.

Thermal comfort assessment and energy consumption analysis of ground-source heat pump system combined with radiant heating/cooling

A new ground source heat pump system combined with radiant heating/cooling is proposed, and the principles and the advantages of the system are analyzed. A demonstration of the system is applied to a rebuilt building： Xijindu exhibition hall, which is located in Zhenjiang city in China. Numerical studies on the thermal comfort and energy consumption of the system are carded out by using TRNSYS software. The results indicate that the system with the radiant floor method or the radiant ceiling method shows good thermal comfort without mechanical ventilation in winter. However, the system with either of the methods should add mechanical ventilation to ensure good comfort in summer. At the same level of thermal comfort, it can also be found that the annual energy consumption of the radiant ceiling system is less than that of the radiant floor system.

Energy saving analysis of a hybrid ground-coupled heat pump project

A hybrid ground-coupled heat pump（HGCHP）project in Nanjing,China is chosen to analyze the building energy-consumption properties in terms of different control strategies,building envelope and the terminal air-conditioning system.The HGCHP uses a supplemental heat rejecter to dissipate extra thermal energy to guarantee underground soil heat balance.The software EnergyPlus is employed to simulate the project and design the heat flow of the cooling tower and the borehole heat exchanger（BHE）.Then two feasible control strategies for the cooling tower and the borehole heat exchanger are proposed.The energy-saving potential of the building envelope is analyzed in terms of the surface color of the wall/roof.With the same terminal system,it is found that in the cooling season the heat flow of the insulated building with black wall/roof is 1.2 times more than that with white wall/roof.With the same insulated building and gray wall/roof,it is concluded that the heat pump units for a primary air fan-coil system show an annual energy consumption increase of 44.7 GJ compared with a radiant floor system.

Experimental study on characteristics of transcritical heat pump water heater using refrigerant HFC125

To evaluate the performance of heat pumps using refrigerant HFC125,an experimental rig of a DC-inverter heat pump water heater is designed and set up,and the research on the transcritical heat pump water heater is carried out experimentally.It is found that there is a top value of the coefficient of performance（COP）when the system runs at 95 Hz of frequency.The relationships between the COP and compressor frequency,condensation pressure,evaporation pressure,condensation water temperature rise,and discharge temperature are discussed and analyzed at 95 Hz.And the COP of the HFC125 transcritical cycle is also compared with that of a R410 subcritical heat pump under the same conditions.The results indicate that there exists an optimum frequency for a better COP,and the system COP shows an increasing tendency with the decrease in condensation pressure and compressor ratio while the evaporation pressure remains invariant,and the COP decreases rapidly when cooling water temperature rises over 47.5 ℃.Compared with the R410A sub-critical cycle,the COP of HFC125 transcritical cycle significantly increases by 12% on average.

Experimental Investigation on System with Combination of Ground-Source Heat Pump and Solar Collector

This paper presents the heating performance and energy distribution of a system with the combination of ground-source heat pump and solar collector or a solar-assisted ground-source heat pump system (SAGSHPS) by calculation and experiment.The results show that the average absolute error is less than 0.6 ℃ and the relative error is less than 5% under the pulse load when the analytical solution to the 2-D solid cylindrical source model is used for the SAGSHPS.The coefficient of performance (COP) of the SAGSHPS is 2.95-4.70.The average fluid temperature in the borehole heat exchanger can increase by 3 ℃ with the assistance of solar collector,which will improve the COP of the heat pump by approximately 10% from the experimental data.The energy contributions to the total heating load of soil,electricity and solar are 56.30%,36.87% and 6.83%,respectively.

Experimental Study of Thermoelectric Heat Pump Water Heater with Exhaust Heat Recovery from Kitchens

A new kind of thermoelectric heat pump water heater for kitchens exhaust heat recovery was presented,and its performances were investigated under different operating voltages.The experiment results show that the coefficient of performance decreases and the temperature difference between the hot and cold sides becomes larger with the increase of the operating voltage,but the heating time becomes short.The higher the temperature of water,the greater the temperature difference between the hot and cold sides,leading to a smaller coefficient of performance.Under an exhaust temperature of 36 ℃,the coefficient of performance decreases from 1.66 to 1.22 when the temperature of water increases from 28 ℃ to 46 ℃ with operating voltage 16 V.Performance tests illustrate that,compared with the conventional electrical water heaters,the new kind of thermoelectric heat pump water heater is more coefficient.

Experiment research on grain drying process in the heat pump assisted fluidized beds

A heat pump assisted fluidized bed grain drying experimental system wasdeveloped. Based on this system, a serial of experiments was performed under four kinds of air cycleconditions. According to the experimental analysis, an appropriate drying medium-air cycle for theheat pump assisted fluidized bed drying equipment was decided, which is different from the commonlyused heat pump assisted drying system. The experimental results concerning the drying operationperformance of the new system show that the averaged coefficient of performance (COP) can reach morethan 2.5. The economical evaluation was performed and the power consumption for removing a kilogramwater from grains was about 0.485 kW-h/kg (H_2O), which shows its reasonable commercial efficiencyand great application potentiality in future market.

Operating performance of novel reverse-cycle defrosting method based on thermal energy storage for air source heat pump

To solve the fundamental problem of insufficient heat available during defrosting while ensuring the efficient and safe system operation for air-source heat pumps (ASHPs). A novel reverse-cycle defrosting (NRCD) method based on thermal energy storage to eliminate frost off the outdoor coil surface was developed. Comparative experiments using both the stand reverse cycle defrosting (SRCD) method and the NRCD method were carried out on an experimental ASHP unit with a nominal 2.5 kW heating capacity. The results indicate that during defrosting operation, using the NRCD method improves discharge and suction pressures by 0.24 MPa and 0.19 MPa, respectively, shortens defrosting duration by 60%, and reduces the defrosting energy consumption by 48.1% in the experimental environment, compared with those by the use of SRCD method. Therefore, using the NRCD method can shorten the defrosting duration, improve the indoor thermal comfort, and reduce the defrosting energy consumption in defrosting.

Multi-Effect Evaporation Coupled with MVR Heat Pump Thermal Integration Distillation for Separating Salt Containing Methanol Wastewater

Due to the high energy consumption for separation of salt containing methanol wastewater, in this work, the multi-effect evaporation coupled with mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) heat pump and thermal integration technologies were raised for the first time. The ELECNRTL thermodynamic model is used to simulate and optimize the evaporation rectification process. Energy consumption and total annual cost (TAC) are taken as objective functions. The results show that multi-effect evaporation coupled with conventional distillation process can save energy consumption and TAC by 44.12% and 39.14%. The multi-effect evaporation coupled with distillation process based on MVR heat pump technology can save energy consumption and TAC by 55.27% and 47.49%, which is super to three-effect evaporation coupled with conventional distillation process. The three-effect evaporation coupled with MVR heat integration process can save energy consumption and TAC by 81.32% and 58.55%, which is more economical than other processes. It can be clearly seen that three-effect evaporation coupled with MVR heat integration process is more competitive to deal with the salt containing methanol wastewater.

Variation characteristics of aquifer parameters induced by groundwater source heat pump operation under variable flow

The variation characteristics of aquifer parameters,induced by groundwater source heat pump(GWSHP) operation under variable flow,were theoretically analyzed through a case study,in which the characteristics of building air conditioning load were considered.The results,compared with the constant flow operation,indicate that the influence on the variations of porosity,hydraulic conductivity and confined water head is decreased by 48%,51% and 71%,respectively,under variable flow operation.The security of variable flow operation is superior to that of constant flow.It is also concluded that the climate region and function of the buildings are primary factors which affect the suitability of variable flow operation in GWSHP.