Techno-economic analysis on frosting/defrosting operations for an air source heat pump unit with an optimized multi-circuit outdoor coil

摘要

Air source heat pump (ASHP) units are used in applications around the world. After optimizing the multi circuit outdoor coil by installing water collecting trays between circuits and adjusting the refrigerant distribution by using valves located at each circuit, system frosting/defrosting operation performances could be effectively improved. Before practical industry-scale application of trays and valves, their economic performances should be evaluated. However, in current literature, techno-economic analysis on operation performance of ASHP units is rare, which limits the development of innovative technologies. Therefore, a techno-economic analysis on frosting/defrosting operations is carried out in this study. Firstly, the frosting/defrosting experiments are introduced, followed by a series of assumptions and calculations. Then, the economic analysis results are provided in detail. Compared with a traditional ASHP unit, the total running costs of the modified unit in the heating season could save as much as 3681.75 CNY, or 10.33%, and the total cost decreased by 3516.75 CNY, or 4.67%, over 15 years of service life. The payback period of the additional initial cost is less than 8 months. Contribution of this work plays an important role in the evaluation and application of new technologies in the HVAC field. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.