Reproducibility assessment of an emulator-type load-based testing methodology

Abstract

Current testing procedures for the performance rating of air conditioners (ACs) and heat pumps are conducted while maintaining the valve opening and compressor speed at fixed values, thus providing measurements that are often not representative of the actual field operation of these systems. The proposed emulator-type load-based testing methodology makes it possible to reproducibly test different units under various environmental and load conditions while maintaining the native control of the system active. This study presents and discusses the results of round-robin tests at four different facilities to assess the reproducibility of the proposed testing methodology. A 10-kW R32 ceiling-type system is tested, and promising coherence of the results is found with coefficient of performance (COP) deviation within 3 % for all the examined conditions, including consistent cycling intervals and compressor speed modulation behaviors.