Recent Advances in Transcritical CO2 (R744) Heat Pump System: A Review

Application of transcritical CO2 heat pumps to boiler replacement in low impact refurbishment projects

80% of current UK housing stock is expected to still be in use in 2050. Difficult, intrusive and expensive, refurbishment measures are required to achieve the level of insulation required for current low temperature heat pumps. Transcritical CO2 heat pumps can achieve higher efficiencies, with higher output temperatures, than current, Carnot limited, synthetic gas heat pumps, with less environmental impact. Widely deployed in water heating and supermarket chilling systems, CO2 heat pumps need heating return temperatures of 30 °C or less to function effectively. This has impeded their adoption with hydronic heating systems which have high return temperatures. This study identified system modifications external to the refrigeration cycle that address return temperatures. It modelled a transcritical CO2 air source heat pump with a hydronic heating system in a solid wall semi-detached house. Full year system coefficients of performance over 3 were achieved in four UK locations by using space heating return fluids to defrost the air source heat exchanger and to pre-heat inlet water, recovering any remaining excess return fluid heat as a source for the heat pump. Solar panels boosted this to 5.1. The levelized cost of energy for the system was calculated (with heat pump grant) at 22p/kWh, lower than a gas boiler, with 9.45 tonnes CO2 emission savings over a fifteen-year life.

Field Measurement of Central CO2 Heat Pump Water Heater for Multifamily Retrofit

Domestic hot water heating of multifamily buildings accounts for a substantial portion of the energy load of existing buildings. This load is made up of both the energy required to produce hot water and the energy needed to maintain the temperature of the heated water within a building’s distribution piping so that heat can be promptly delivered to building occupants as needed. Properly designed heat pump water heater (HPWH) systems have the ability to improve efficiency in both water heating and temperature control operations. Further, CO2 heat pump technology reflects a shift away from traditional refrigerants and toward refrigerants with low global warming potential (GWP). In this paper’s case study, a design consisting of multiple CO2 heat pump water heaters (commonly used in single-family homes) with a novel “swing tank” was proposed to meet the demand for domestic hot water heating and recirculation loop temperature maintenance. The proposed design was applied to the retrofit of a 60-unit, low-rise, multi-family building located in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The purpose of this paper is to verify the performance of the system including the proposed “swing tank” in a centralized SHW system using CO2 HPWH. It also provides practical information and lessons learned from the retrofit project. Long-term monitoring data showed that the system had a coefficient of performance (COP) of three or greater and provided an average of 20 gallons of hot water per day per apartment. The results of this work indicate that residential-scale CO2 HPWH equipment and a “swing tank” design can efficiently provide domestic hot water heating and temperature maintenance for mid-sized multifamily buildings.

Visualization and Measurement of Swirling Flow of Dry Ice Particles in Cyclone Separator-Sublimator

The dry ice sublimation process of carbon dioxide (CO2) is a unique, environmentally friendly technology that can achieve a temperature of −56 °C or lower, which is a triple point of CO2 in CO2 refrigeration systems. In this study, a cyclone separator-evaporator was proposed to separate dry ice particles in an evaporator. As an initial step before introducing the cyclone separator-evaporator into an actual refrigeration system, a prototype cyclone separator-evaporator was constructed to visualize dry ice particles in a separation chamber. A high-speed camera was used to visualize the non-uniform flow of dry ice particles that repeatedly coalescence and collision in a swirl section. Consequently, the dry ice particle size and the circumferential and axial velocities of dry ice were measured. The results show that the equivalent diameter of the most abundant dry ice particles in the cyclone separation chamber is 2.0 mm. As the inner diameter of the separation section decreases, dry ice particles coalesce and grow from an equivalent diameter of 4 mm to a maximum of 40 mm. In addition, the comparison of the experimental and simulation results shows that the drag force due to CO2 gas flow is dominant in the circumferential velocity of dry ice particles.

Screening of Cooling Technologies in Europe: Alternatives to Vapour Compression and Possible Market Developments

The aim of this study is to investigate, review, and assess the recent advances of alternative cooling technologies using traditional vapor compression (VC) systems as a baseline. Around 99% of the final energy consumption used for cooling in the current European market (European Union plus the United Kingdom (EU27 + UK) is supplied by VC technologies. In comparison, the remaining 1% is produced by thermally driven heat pumps (TDHPs). This study focuses on providing a complete taxonomy of cooling technologies. While the EU heating sector is broadly explored in scientific literature, a significant lack of data and information is present in the cooling sector. This study highlights technologies that can potentially compete and eventually replace VC systems within the decade (2030). Among others, the most promising of these are membrane heat pump, transcritical cycle, Reverse Brayton (Bell Coleman cycle), and absorption cooling. However, the latter mentioned technologies still need further research and development (R&D) to become fully competitive with VC technologies. Notably, there are no alternative cooling technologies characterized by higher efficiency and less cost than VC technologies in the EU market.

Analysis of the Influence of Control Strategy and Heating Loads on the Performance of Hybrid Heat Pump Systems for Residential Buildings

Air-to-water heat pumps (HPs) are widely installed in new buildings; however, they face performance degradation with high temperature emission systems, which is typical of existing buildings, or during domestic hot water (DHW) production. Hybrid systems (HSs), composed by air-to-water HPs and gas-fired boilers, can mitigate these issues by increasing the overall system efficiency. HS performance is strictly dependent on the configuration and control management of the system itself. Moreover, the building and heating plant also have a strong influence. This study presents an overview of the application of HSs that considers both space heating (SH) and DHW production, by comparing the primary energy (PE) consumption obtained by dynamic simulations. Different climates, building typologies, and DHW withdrawal profiles are used to extend the results’ validity. Additionally, several HS control strategies were implemented and compared. The results show a PE savings ranging from 5% to 22% depending on the control strategy and the external parameters applied in the simulation. The comparison of the control strategies shows that the most efficient strategies are the ones maximizing heat pump utilization. The dependence of PE savings of HS on COP values is highlighted, and a correlation is presented to provide designers with guidance on the applicability of HSs.

Numerical Investigation on the Performance of Two-Throat Nozzle Ejectors with Different Mixing Chamber Structural Parameters

In this study, the effects of the mixing chamber diameter (Dm), mixing chamber length (Lm) and pre-mixing chamber converging angle (θpm) were numerically investigated for a two-throat nozzle ejector to be utilized in a CO2 refrigeration cycle. The developed simulated method was validated by actual experimental data of a CO2 ejector in heat pump water heater system from the published literature. The main results revealed that the two-throat nozzle ejectors can obtain better performance with Dm in the range of 8–9 mm, Lm in the range of 64–82 mm and θpm at approximately 60°, respectively. Deviation from its optimal value could lead to a poor operational performance. Therefore, the mixing chamber structural parameters should be designed at the scope around its optimal value to guarantee the two-throat nozzle ejector performance. The following research can be developed around the two-throat nozzle geometries to strengthen the ejector performance.

Dynamic Performance Comparison of CO2 Mixture Transcritical Power Cycle Systems with Variable Configurations for Engine Waste Heat Recovery

Carbon dioxide transcritical power cycle (CTPC) is suitable for engine waste heat recovery owing to its advantages, such as compact construction and high decomposition temperature. In addition, the addition of refrigerant can further improve the performance of pure carbon dioxide (CO2). Because there are limited studies considering the dynamic performance of CTPC systems with CO2 mixture as the working fluid (CMTPC), let alone the dynamic performance comparison of different structures of the CMTPC system, the object of the current work was to compare the dynamic performance, including the off-design performance and dynamic response speed, of four kinds of CMTPC systems, as well as their sensitivity to system input parameters. The dynamic models of four CMTPC systems were established and validated against experimental data, which includes basic CMTPC (B-CMTPC), CMTPC with a preheater (P-CMTPC), CMTPC with a recuperator (R-CMTPC), and CMTPC with both a recuperator and preheater (PR-CMTPC). Based on the dynamic models, the off-design performance and dynamic response speed of four CMTPC systems were compared by changing the engine load. The fluctuation amplitude and response time of a R-CTPC system are the maximum under off-design conditions. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis demonstrates that different output parameters of four CMTPC systems have differing sensitivity to input parameters. It is necessary to pay attention to the more sensitive input parameters under the specific working condition to avoid system damage or unsafe operation.

Thermodynamic Analysis of the Air-Cooled Transcritical Rankine Cycle Using CO2/R161 Mixture Based on Natural Draft Dry Cooling Towers

Heat rejection in the hot-arid area is of concern to power cycles, especially for the transcritical Rankine cycle using CO2 as the working fluid in harvesting the low-grade energy. Usually, water is employed as the cooling substance in Rankine cycles. In this paper, the transcritical Rankine cycle with CO2/R161 mixture and dry air cooling systems had been proposed to be used in arid areas with water shortage. A design and rating model for mixture-air cooling process were developed based on small-scale natural draft dry cooling towers. The influence of key parameters on the system’s thermodynamic performance was tested. The results suggested that the thermal efficiency of the proposed system was decreased with the increases in the turbine inlet pressure and the ambient temperature, with the given thermal power as the heat source. Additionally, the cooling performance of natural draft dry cooling tower was found to be affected by the ambient temperature and the turbine exhaust temperature.

CO2 Refrigeration and Heat Pump Systems—A Comprehensive Review

An increased awareness of the impacts of synthetic refrigerants on the environment has prompted the refrigeration industry and researchers worldwide to seek better alternatives in terms of technical, economic and environmental performance. CO2 refrigerant, also known as R744, has re-emerged as a potential alternative to existing refrigerants with its zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) and impressively low global warming potential (GWP). A refrigeration system utilising this refrigerant, however, suffers performance degradation when it operates in warm or hot climatic regions due to its inevitable operation in the supercritical region. In addition, the CO2 refrigerant properties necessitate the need for components designed to withstand very high operating pressures. These challenges have not been let unnoticed; related industries and researchers are actively involved in research and development of various components and systems which in turn encourages increased applications of these systems. In this paper, a comprehensive review of CO2 refrigeration systems and the state of the art of the technology and its applications in various industries is presented. In particular, the paper reviews recent research and developments on various aspects of CO2 systems including cycle modifications, exergy analysis of the systems, system modelling, transcritical operation consideration and various existing and potential applications.

Review of Experimental Research on Supercritical and Transcritical Thermodynamic Cycles Designed for Heat Recovery Application

Supercritical operation is considered a main technique to achieve higher cycle efficiency in various thermodynamic systems. The present paper is a review of experimental investigations on supercritical operation considering both heat-to-upgraded heat and heat-to-power systems. Experimental works are reported and subsequently analyzed. Main findings can be summarized as: steam Rankine cycles does not show much studies in the literature, transcritical organic Rankine cycles are intensely investigated and few plants are already online, carbon dioxide is considered as a promising fluid for closed Brayton and Rankine cycles but its unique properties call for a new thinking in designing cycle components. Transcritical heat pumps are extensively used in domestic and industrial applications, but supercritical heat pumps with a working fluid other than CO2 are scarce. To increase the adoption rate of supercritical thermodynamic systems further research is needed on the heat transfer behavior and the optimal design of compressors and expanders with special attention to the mechanical integrity.

An Object-Oriented R744 Two-Phase Ejector Reduced-Order Model for Dynamic Simulations

The object-oriented two-phase ejector hybrid reduced-order model (ROM) was developed for dynamic simulation of the R744 refrigeration system. OpenModelica software was used to evaluate the system’s performance. Moreover, the hybrid ROM results were compared to the results given by the non-dimensional and one-dimensional mathematical approaches of the R744 two-phase ejector. Accuracy of all three ejector models was defined through a validation procedure for the experimental results. Finally, the dynamic simulation of the hybrid ROM ejector model integrated with the R744 refrigeration system was presented based on the summer campaign at three different climate zones: Mediterranean, South American and South Asian. The hybrid ROM obtained the best prediction of ejector mass flow rates as compared with other ejector models under subcritical and transcritical operating conditions. The dynamic simulations of the R744 ejector-based system indicated the ejector efficiency variations and the best efficiency at the investigated climate zones. The coefficient of performance (COP) varied from 2.5 to 4.0 according to different ambient conditions. The pressure ratio of 1.15 allowed a more stabilised system during the test campaign with an ejector efficiency from 20% to over 30%.

Hybrid Adsorption-Compression Systems for Air Conditioning in Efficient Buildings: Design through Validated Dynamic Models

Hybrid sorption-compression systems are gaining interest for heating/cooling/ refrigeration purposes in different applications, since they allow exploiting the benefits of both technologies and a better utilization of renewable sources. However, design of such components is still difficult, due to the intrinsic complexity of the systems and the lack of reliable models. In particular, the combination of adsorption-compression cascade unit has not been widely explored yet and there are no simulations or sizing tools reported in the literature. In this context, the present paper describes a model of a hybrid adsorption-compression system, realised in Modelica language using the commercial software Dymola. The models of the main components of the sorption and vapour compression unit are described in details and their validation presented. In addition, the integrated model is used for proving the feasibility of the system under dynamic realistic conditions and an example of the technical sizing that the model is able to accomplish is given.