Heating performance and optimization of ice source heat pump system with supercooled water

Abstract

An ice source heat pump, which can extract latent heat from the icy water, has a better system performance in low-temperature areas. Cosiderring the disadvantange of ice source heat pump using static ice-making method or scraping ice-making method, an ice source heat pump based on supercooled water method is proposed and its heating performance is measured in the study. Then, a system model is developed to study and optimize the system performance. It concludes: (1) The ice source heat pump system COP decreases with the increasing supercooled water flow rate. The system COP reaches about 3.3 when the condensation temperature is 42 °C. (2) The proper range of supercooled degrees in ice source heat pump is mainly from 2 °C to 3 °C. (3) The rank of local exergy loss rate in ice source heat pump system is listed as follows: compressor > condenser > valve > evaporator > pump. The exergy loss proportion of compressor and condenser is about 65%. (4) The system COP and exergy efficiency of ice source heat pump increase approximately linearly with the increase of capacity. The optimal supercooled degree mainly depends on the rate of change of the compressor power and the pump power concerning the supercooled degree. This work provides insight into the performance of ice source heat pump with supercooled method and guides the design of ice source heat pump system.