Energetic, economic and environmental analyses of frost-free air-source heat pump in multi-type buildings and different locations

Abstract

Frost-free air-source heat pumps (FFASHPs) have gained increasing attention as an alternative to conventional air-source heat pumps (ASHPs), chillers and boilers (CBs), in the context of low-carbon space heating and cooling. Conducting energetic, economic, and environmental (3E) analyses on these systems in various building types and locations is crucial for system selection, yet relevant research is scarce. To address this issue, this paper presents a comprehensive framework for 3E analyses, including location selection, building assessment, load calculation, system sizing and modeling, annual simulations, and subsequent data visualization. The study includes seven building types and 353 locations with specific climate conditions. The results indicate that FFASHPs outperform ASHPs in terms of energy efficiency, lifecycle costs, and carbon emissions. Compared to CBs, FFASHPs exhibit superior energy efficiency across most regions and building types, except for severe cold, hot summer and warm winter regions. In central and coastal areas, the advantages are more prominent due to higher natural gas prices, making FFASHPs commercially viable. In hot summer and cold winter region with electricity carbon emission factors ranging from 0.3574 to 0.6829 kgCO2/kW, the FFASHP exhibits significant potential for decarbonization due to its high efficiency. In renewable energy-rich areas with low emission factors (0.1031–0.2602 kgCO2/kWh), FFASHPs can achieve significant carbon reductions, up to 90 %. This paper, for the first time, achieves a comprehensive 3E analyses of FFASHPs, ASHPs, and CBs. It offers a general methodology, extensive datasets, and visualized graphs for system selection, promoting low-carbon space heating and cooling.