A study on the performance of multi-stage heat pumps using mixtures

Abstract

Multi-stage heat pumps composed of a condenser, evaporator, compressor, suction line heat exchanger, and low and/or high stage economizers are studied by computer simulation. Their thermodynamic performance and design options are examined for various working fluids. In the simulation, HCFC22/HCFC142b and HFC134a are studied as an interim and long term alternatives for CFC12 while HFC32/HFC134a and HFC125/HFC134a are studied as long term alternatives for HCFC22. The results indicate that the three-stage super heat pump with appropriate mixtures is up to 27.3% more energy efficient than the conventional single-stage system with pure fluids. While many factors contribute to the performance increase of a super heat pump, the most important factor is found to be the temperature matching between the secondary heat transfer fluid and refrigerant mixture, which is followed by the use of a low stage economizer and suction line heat exchanger. The contribution resulting from the use of a high stage economizer, however, is not significant. With the suction line heat exchanger, the system efficiency increases more with the fluids of larger molar liquid specific heats. From the view point of volumetric capacity and energy efficiency, a 40%HCFC22/60%HCFC142b mixture is proposed as an interim alternative for CFC12 while a 25%HFC32/75%HFC134a mixture is proposed as a long term alternative for HCFC22.