Energy and exergy analysis of low-global warming potential refrigerants as replacement for R410A in two-speed heat pumps for cold climates

Bo Shen, Moonis R. Ally

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Heat pumps (HPs) are being developed with a new emphasis on cold climates. To lower the environmental impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, alternate low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants must also replace the exclusive use of the refrigerant R410A, preferably without re-engineering the mechanical hardware. In this paper, we analyze the performance of four low-GWP alternative refrigerants (R32, R452B, R454B, and R466A) relative to the conventional R410A and draw conclusions on the relative performances for providing heating in cold climates based on the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) 210/240 standard for two-speed heat pumps. The simulations are carried using the Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (DOE/ORNL) Heat Pump Design Model (HPDM), a well-known heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) modeling and design tool in the public domain and the HVAC research and development community. The results of the simulation are further scrutinized using exergy analysis to identify sources of systemic inefficiency, the root cause of lost work. This rigorous approach provides an exhaustive analysis of alternate low-GWP refrigerants to replace R410A using available compressors and system components, without compromising performance.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5666
JournalEnergies
Volume13
Issue number21
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2020

Funding

Funding: Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office Conflicts of Interest: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The U.S. government, and the publisher by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. government purposes. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

Keywords

  • Cold climate
  • Exergy
  • Heat pumps
  • Low-GWP refrigerants
  • Modeling
  • Simulation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Energy and exergy analysis of low-global warming potential refrigerants as replacement for R410A in two-speed heat pumps for cold climates'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this