THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF TWO TYPES OF COMPRESSORS APPLIED TO HOUSEHOLD HEAT PUMP WATER HEATERS

摘要

The use of heat pumps for domestic water heating has increased over recent years and thus, as regulations arernbecoming increasingly restrictive, the compressor design must be improved for this application. The main issuesrnin the development of compressors for this application are the requirements of low power consumption and highrnpressure ratios, due to the high condensing temperatures and the low evaporation temperatures, which are typicalrnof cold climates. The efficiency of a heat pump is affected by the adopted vapor compression technology, but fewrncomparative studies of these technologies are available in literature. This paper reports a comparative study of therntwo most common compression technologies applied to heat pumps for domestic water heating: the reciprocatingrnand rolling piston compressors. Results from losses inventory are used to identify the main source of inefficienciesrnof each technology for this application.