LCCP evaluation on various vapor compression cycle options and low GWP refrigerants

Abstract

Reducing environmental impacts from the energy conversion systems has been an important research topic due to recent severe global climate changes. In residential buildings, the space heating and cooling are main energy consumers, which are mainly relying on a vapor compression cycle. In an effort to better understand the environmental impacts of these systems, life cycle climate performance (LCCP) evaluation method was developed, which considers the direct and indirect emissions of the system over the course of its lifetime from manufacturing to disposal. Based on the developed LCCP evaluation method, five cycle options and seven low GWP refrigerants are evaluated for air conditioning applications.