Development of Ammonia-Water Absorption Heat Pump Water Heater for Residential and Commercial Applications

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Garrabrant ◽  
Roger Stout ◽  
Paul Glanville ◽  
Chris Keinath ◽  
Srinivas Garimella
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
System Level ◽  
Outer Diameter ◽  
Water Heater ◽  
Absorption Heat Pump ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
Commercial Applications ◽  
The Impact

Approximately half of the water heaters sold in the U.S. and Canada for residential and small commercial applications are natural gas fired storage water heaters, with a maximum theoretical thermal efficiency of 96%. A packaged water heater heated by a 2.9 kW absorption heat pump was designed and demonstrated in this study to achieve performance exceeding these limitations. The modeling and validation of the absorption cycle and of the natural gas-fired combustion system are discussed here. Heat transfer characteristics of the absorption components at expected operating conditions were used to model cycle performance. A single-effect system based on these models was fabricated and yielded a cyclic COP of 1.63, within 3% of predictions. A corresponding GAX cycle-based system yielded performance 20% lower than predicted values, indicating the need for larger heat and mass exchangers to achieve the expected system level performance. The gas-fired burner configuration required for this heat pump is governed by the water heater envelope, desorber geometry and process requirements, coupled with emissions requirements. Parametric CFD analyses were conducted to estimate the impact of chamber design on burner performance, and revealed a beneficial recirculation pattern within the combustion chamber that was strongly influenced by chamber height. Emission reductions depended on chamber diameter, and prototype burners with smaller outer diameter fabricated based on these designs met emission targets.

scholarly journals Comparison of Transcritical CO2 and Conventional Refrigerant Heat Pump Water Heaters for Domestic Applications

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 479
Author(s):  
Ignacio Paniagua ◽  
Ángel Álvaro ◽  
Javier Martín ◽  
Celina Fernández ◽  
Rafael Carlier
Keyword(s):  
Heat Pump ◽  
Thermodynamic Cycle ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Coefficient Of Performance ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Water Heater ◽  
Water Heaters

Although CO 2 as refrigerant is well known for having the lowest global warming potential (GWP), and commercial domestic heat pump water heater systems exist, its long expected wide spread use has not fully unfolded. Indeed, CO 2 poses some technological difficulties with respect to conventional refrigerants, but currently, these difficulties have been largely overcome. Numerous studies show that CO 2 heat pump water heaters can improve the coefficient of performance (COP) of conventional ones in the given conditions. In this study, the performances of transcritical CO 2 and R410A heat pump water heaters were compared for an integrated nearly zero-energy building (NZEB) application. The thermodynamic cycle of two commercial systems were modelled integrating experimental data, and these models were then used to analyse both heat pumps receiving and producing hot water at equal temperatures, operating at the same ambient temperature. Within the range of operation of the system, it is unclear which would achieve the better COP, as it depends critically on the conditions of operation, which in turn depend on the ambient conditions and especially on the actual use of the water. Technology changes on each side of the line of equal performance conditions of operation (EPOC), a useful design tool developed in the study. The transcritical CO 2 is more sensitive to operating conditions, and thus offers greater flexibility to the designer, as it allows improving performance by optimising the global system design.

scholarly journals Characterization of Wrapped Coil Tank Water Heater During Charging/Discharging

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Elatar ◽  
Kashif Nawaz ◽  
Bo Shen ◽  
Van Baxter ◽  
Omar Abdelaziz
Keyword(s):  
Water Temperature ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Thermal Stratification ◽  
Water Tank ◽  
Water Heater ◽  
Water Heaters ◽  
Discharge Flow Rate ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Supply Water

Heat pump water heaters (HPWH) are an energy efficient method for water heating compared to conventional electric water heaters. A wrapped coil around the water tank is often used as the condenser for the heat pump for such applications. Thermal stratification, caused by varying heat transfer rate from the condenser to the water depending on the phase of the refrigerant and the wrap configuration, is often observed inside the tank, especially for HPWHs using CO2 as the refrigerant. The current study investigates the impact of the charging/discharging process on thermal stratification. A series of simulations were conducted based on the draw patterns recommended by the DOE method of test for rating water heater performance. We also analyzed the water circulation patterns during charging/discharging process. The thermal stratification was adversely affected because of the circulation even when the Heat Pump (HP) was operational. It was observed that a relatively higher charge/discharge flow rate disrupts the thermal stratification quickly and thus lowers the supply water temperature. Furthermore, the duration of charging/discharging also plays an important role. It was noticed that the back flow has insignificant effect on the supply water temperature if charging/discharging time is relatively small. However, the effect was obvious for larger water draw flow rates that last for longer time.

Gas Driven Micro-Cogenerator Incorporating Heat Pump: Exergetic, Economic and Environmental Analysis

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaello Possidente ◽  
Carlo Roselli ◽  
Maurizio Sasso ◽  
Sergio Sibilio
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Internal Combustion Engine ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Environmental Analysis ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Internal Combustion ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Commercial Applications ◽  
The Moment

A natural gas-fired micro-cogenerator (MCHP) based on a reciprocating internal combustion engine that drives an electric heat pump (EHP), MCHP/EHP, has been analyzed. It allows a high degree of flexibility in terms of operating conditions, due to the possibility to use the two devices separately supplying electric and thermal (heating and cooling) energy (CCHT, Combined Cooling Heating and Power). The MCHP/EHP is a gas cooling technology that can contribute to optimize the natural gas and electricity consumptions in those countries where the HVAC systems are widespread. In particular, our interest was focused on micro-cogenerators (electric power ≤ 15 kW) at the moment available on the market, based on reciprocating internal combustion engine, that could have a great diffusion in the near future for domestic and light commercial applications. Starting by the results of an intense experimental activity an exergetic, economic and environmental analysis has been carried out to compare the proposed MCHP/EHP system to the conventional one based on separate “production”.

Direct Outer Ring Cooling of a High Speed Jet Engine Mainshaft Ball Bearing: Experimental Investigation Results

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gloeckner ◽  
Klaus Dullenkopf ◽  
Michael Flouros
Keyword(s):  
Power Dissipation ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Ball Bearing ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Outer Ring ◽  
Outer Diameter ◽  
Propulsion Systems ◽  
Jet Engine ◽  
Power Loss Reduction ◽  
The Impact

Operating conditions in high speed mainshaft ball bearings applied in new aircraft propulsion systems require enhanced bearing designs and materials. Rotational speeds, loads, demands on higher thrust capability, and reliability have increased continuously over the last years. A consequence of these increasing operating conditions are increased bearing temperatures. A state of the art jet engine high speed ball bearing has been modified with an oil channel in the outer diameter of the bearing. This oil channel provides direct cooling of the outer ring. Rig testing under typical flight conditions has been performed to investigate the cooling efficiency of the outer ring oil channel. In this paper the experimental results including bearing temperature distribution, power dissipation, bearing oil pumping and the impact on oil mass and parasitic power loss reduction are presented.

Process Automation for Aero Engine Secondary Air System Seal Design

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adele Nasti
Keyword(s):  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
System Level ◽  
Process Automation ◽  
Seal Design ◽  
Aero Engine ◽  
Air System ◽  
Secondary Air ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Secondary air system seals are crucial in aero engine design as they have a direct impact on specific fuel consumption. Their behavior is affected by several aspects of the physics of the system: the air system, the engine thermal physics, the effect of flight loads and several other effects. As a consequence, their design is a complex and iterative process, which is highly dependent on the location of the seal in the engine, on the system requirements and on the system behavior. This paper describes a methodology for multi-disciplinary assessment of secondary air system seals within an engine environment and supports standard seal design, trade-off studies on novel concepts and system-level optimization. Defining the seal design intent for a specific engine location in the form of objectives, it is possible to embed process automation into traditionally manual multi-disciplinary design processes. This allows transforming modelling and simulation tools, which typically provide predictions for a specific seal design over reference cycles, into design and optimization tools, which can provide the optimum seal design for a specific set of requirements. This approach provides predictive models of both seal performance and performance degradation and is capable of taking into account all sources of variation, for instance manufacturing variations or engine operating conditions, delivering a robust design, specific to the engine location. The methodology enables a holistic approach to system and sub-system design and provides a deeper understanding of the impact of the seal onto system and of the system onto the seal, allowing optimization of the overall solution and informing the business case for introduction of different sealing strategies. Examples of the application of this methodology are provided for both labyrinth seals and leaf seals.

scholarly journals Chart for Thermoelectric Systems Operation Based on a Ternary Diagram for Bithermal Systems

Entropy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 666
Author(s):  
Julien Ramousse ◽  
Christophe Goupil
Keyword(s):  
Heat Pump ◽  
Heat Engine ◽  
Ternary Diagram ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Thermal Dissipation ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Joule Effect ◽  
Parametric Curve ◽  
Thermoelectric Systems ◽  
The Impact

Thermoelectric system’s operation needs careful attention to ensure optimal power conversion depending on the application aims. As a ternary diagram of bithermal systems allows a synthetic graphical analysis of the performance attainable by any work-heat conversion system, thermoelectric systems operation is plotted as a parametric curve function of the operating conditions (electric current and reservoirs’ temperature), based on the standard model of Ioffe. The threshold of each operating mode (heat engine, heat pump, thermal dissipation, and forced thermal transfer), along with the optimal efficiencies and powers of the heat pump and heat engine modes, are characterized graphically and analytically as a function of the material properties and the operating conditions. The sensibility of the performance aims (maximum efficiency vs. maximum power) with the operating conditions is, thus, highlighted. In addition, the specific contributions of each phenomenon involved in the semiconductor (reversible Seebeck effect, irreversible heat leakage by conduction and irreversible thermal dissipation by Joule effect) are discussed in terms of entropy generation. Finally, the impact of the exo-irreversibilities on the performance is analyzed by taking the external thermal resistances into account.

The Performance Improvement of a 70kWe Natural Gas CHP System

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Fu ◽  
Xiling Zhao ◽  
Shigang Zhang ◽  
Yi Jiang ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Exchanger ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Flue Gas ◽  
Utilization Efficiency ◽  
Outlet Temperature ◽  
Absorption Heat Pump ◽  
Gas Engine ◽  
Innovative System ◽  
Chp System

It is well known that combined heating and power (CHP) generation permits the energy of the fuel to be more efficiently than electric and thermal separate generation. The paper deals with natural gas CHP system with a 70kWe gas-powered internal combustion engine (ICE), which has been set up at the Tsinghua University energy-saving building, in Beijing, China. The system is composed of an ICE, a flue gas heat exchanger and other heat exchangers. The conventional system’s characteristics is that the gas engine generates power on-site, and the exhaust of the gas engine is recovered by a high temperature flue gas-water heat exchanger, and the jacket water heat is recovered by a water-water heat exchanger to supply heat for district heating system. In order to improve the system’s performance, an innovative system with absorption heat pump is adopted. The exhaust of the gas engine drives an absorption heat pump to recover the flue gas sensible heat and further recover the latent heat, so the outlet temperature of the exhaust could be lowered to 50°C. In this paper, the electrical and thermal performance of the innovative system were tested and compared with conventional cogeneration systems. The test and comparison results show that the innovative CHP system could increase the heat utilization efficiency 10% in winter. All the results provide important insight into CHP performance characteristics and could be valuable references for CHP system’s improvements.

Secondary Fluids for GAX Absorption Heat Pump

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Anand ◽  
C. B. Panchal ◽  
D. C. Erickson
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Performance Model ◽  
Coefficient Of Performance ◽  
Pumping Power ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Absorption Heat Pump ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Secondary Fluid

The gas-fired Generator-Absorber heat eXchanger (GAX) heat pump is being considered for space conditioning in residential and light commercial applications. In order to meet the national building codes for ammonia absorption heat pumps, a secondary fluid is used to interface with the air-coils. Proper choice of a secondary fluid maximizes the economic advantage of the GAX heat pump. The secondary fluid transfers the heating and cooling loads from the absorption heat pump to and from outdoor and indoor air-coils. The physical properties of secondary fluids influence the heat transfer performance in the heat-exchange equipment and hence the effective lift, thereby determining the cycle coefficient of performance (COP). Additionally, the pumping power for each fluid varies depending on the density and viscosity at operating temperatures. The variation in cycle COP and pumping power as a result of fluid properties is ultimately manifested as changes in electric and natural-gas cost. An analysis was carried out to evaluate six secondary fluids for a GAX absorption heat pump. A performance model was developed to simulate the secondary-fluid flow loops and the absorption heat pump. The utility costs for heating and cooling were determined for a typical building. The effects of ambient conditions and local utility rates were determined by modeling the annual utility costs in four cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. These four cities provided wide variations in heating and cooling requirements, and utility rates for natural gas and electricity. The results from this study provide a basis for selecting secondary fluids for heat pumping in different locations.

scholarly journals Modeling of Three-Way Catalyst Dynamics for a Compressed Natural Gas Engine during Lean–Rich Transitions

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (21) ◽  
pp. 4610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Di Maio ◽  
Carlo Beatrice ◽  
Valentina Fraioli ◽  
Pierpaolo Napolitano ◽  
Stefano Golini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Catalytic Converter ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Oxygen Storage ◽  
Continuous Control ◽  
Engine Exhaust ◽  
Compressed Natural Gas ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Three Way Catalyst

The main objective of the present research activity was to investigate the effect of very fast composition transitions of the engine exhaust typical in real-world driving operating conditions, as fuel cutoff phases or engine misfire, on the aftertreatment devices, which are generally very sensitive to these changes. This phenomenon is particularly evident when dealing with engines powered by natural gas, which requires the use of a three-way catalyst (TWC). Indeed, some deviations from the stoichiometric lambda value can interfere with the catalytic converter efficiency. In this work, a numerical “quasi-steady” model was developed to simulate the chemical and transport phenomena of a specific TWC for a compressed natural gas (CNG) heavy-duty engine. A dedicated experimental campaign was performed in order to evaluate the catalyst response to a defined λ variation pattern of the engine exhaust stream, thus providing the data necessary for the numerical model validation. Tests were carried out to reproduce oxygen storage phenomena that make catalyst behavior different from the classic steady-state operating conditions. A surface reaction kinetic mechanism concerning CH4, CO, H2, oxidation and NO reduction has been appropriately calibrated at different λ values with a step-by-step procedure, both in steady-state conditions of the engine work plan and during transient conditions, through cyclical and consecutive transitions of variable frequency between rich and lean phases. The activity also includes a proper calibration of the reactions involving cerium inside the catalyst in order to reproduce oxygen storage and release dynamics. Sensitivity analysis and continuous control of the reaction rate allowed evaluating the impact of each of them on the exhaust composition in several operating conditions. The proposed model predicts tailpipe conversion/formation of the main chemical species, starting from experimental engine-out data, and provides a useful tool to evaluate the catalyst’s performance.

Recovery Efficiency in Hydraulically Fractured Shale Gas Reservoirs

2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxian B. Seales ◽  
Turgay Ertekin ◽  
John Yilin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Shale Gas ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Recovery Efficiency ◽  
British Petroleum ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Shale Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Petroleum Company ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S

At the end of 2015 the U.S. held 5.6% or approximately 369 Tcf of worldwide conventional natural gas proved reserves (British Petroleum Company, 2016, “BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2016,” British Petroleum Co., London). If unconventional gas sources are considered, natural gas reserves rise steeply to 2276 Tcf. Shale gas alone accounts for approximately 750 Tcf of the technically recoverable gas reserves in the U.S. (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2011, “Review of Emerging Resources: U.S. Shale Gas and Shale Oil plays,” U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC). However, this represents only a very small fraction of the gas associated with shale formations and is indicative of current technological limits. This manuscript addresses the question of recovery efficiency/recovery factor (RF) in fractured gas shales. Predictions of gas RF in fractured shale gas reservoirs are presented as a function of operating conditions, non-Darcy flow, gas slippage, proppant crushing, and proppant diagenesis. Recovery factors are simulated using a fully implicit, three-dimensional, two-phase, dual-porosity finite difference model that was developed specifically for this purpose. The results presented in this article provide clear insight into the range of recovery factors one can expect from a fractured shale gas formation, the impact that operation procedures and other phenomena have on these recovery factors, and the efficiency or inefficiency of contemporary shale gas production technology.

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