Abstract
US coastal and island communities have vulnerable energy infrastructure and high energy costs, which are exacerbated by climate change. A unique opportunity exists to use thermal energy from year-round mild temperature variations to satisfy the broad energy needs of these communities. The US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory designed a small-scale marine-source integrated heat pump (MSIHP) that, as a single appliance, combines space conditioning, dehumidification (including fresh water harvesting from humid air), and water heating for home and commercial building applications in remote coastal and island communities. The unique, innovative features of the MS-IHP offer improved efficiency and substantially reduced costs for space conditioning, dehumidification, and water heating by seamlessly integrating a heat pump, heat pump water heater, and dehumidifier by using a single compressor; optimal year-round space cooling and heating, dehumidification, water harvesting, and water heating; and improved thermal comfort and reliable operation without frosting and defrosting because of the ocean’s warm temperatures and high heat capacity. Preliminary testing was conducted by retrofitting a commercial heat pump, and the demonstrated energy efficiency measured in COP was superior to conventional air-source heat pumps. The MS-IHP technology can help decarbonize energy systems in remote coastal and island communities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 325-333 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Proceedings of the Thermal and Fluids Engineering Summer Conference |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2025 |
| Event | 10th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, TFEC 2025 - Washington, United States Duration: Mar 9 2025 → Mar 12 2025 |
Funding
This work was sponsored by the US Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office. This research used resources at the Building Technologies Research and Integration Center, a US Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors also acknowledge Oak Ridge National Laboratory colleagues who provided assistance in this work. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US 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 US government purposes. 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
- Integrated heat pump
- efficiency
- renewable marine energy
- space conditioning
- water heating