EXERGY ANALYSIS OF A VAPOUR COMPRESSION HEAT PUMP

ABSTRACT

The paper presents an analysis of the behaviour of an air-water vapour compression heat pump at the variation of some of the decisional parameters as the state of the fluid at the compressor intake. Different refrigerants as CO2, NH3 and R600a, and different schematics are considered. The large use of rotary compressors in the industrial and domestic heat pump area has determined the investigation of the influence of the wet compression. The analysis is based on the exergy concept that enables to point out the location and magnitude of any malfunction. The exergy analysis gives solutions for improving the performance and design of the heat pump system. The exergetic analysis helps to improve the constructive structure of the heat pump schematic. The exergetic analysis points out that the largest exergy destruction in the CO2 cycle is due to the throttling process and offers solutions to diminish it.

Keywords: air-water heat pump, wet compression, exergetic analysis