The heat pump circuit consists of a compressor, an evaporator with fan, a thermostatic expansion valve and a coaxial coil heat exchanger as condenser. All components are clearly arranged in the trainer.
The compressed refrigerant steam condenses in the outer pipe of the condenser and thereby discharges heat to the water in the inner pipe. The liquid refrigerant evaporates at low pressure in the finned tube evaporator and thereby absorbs heat from the ambient air.
The hot water circuit consists of a tank, a pump and the condenser as heater. For a continuous operation the generated heat is dissipated via an external cooling water connection. The cooling water flow rate is set via a valve and measured.
All relevant measured values are recorded by sensors and displayed. The simultaneous transmission of the measurements to a data recording software enables analysis and the representation of the process in the log p-h diagram. The software also displays the key characteristics variables of the process, such as the compressor pressure ratio and the coefficient of performance.
The unit shall perform the following experiments and investigations:
Learning Objectives / Experiments
design and operation of an air-to-water heat pump
representation of the thermodynamic cycle in the
log p-h diagram
energy balances
determination of important characteristic variables
compressor pressure ratio
ideal coefficient of performance
real coefficient of performance
dependence of the real coefficient of performance
on the temperature difference (air-to-water)
operating behaviour under load
Specification
Investigation of a heat pump with a water circuit as load
Refrigeration circuit with compressor, evaporator with fan, thermostatic expansion valve and coaxial coil heat exchanger as condenser
Hot water circuit with pump, tank and condenser as heater
Additional cooling via pipe coil in the hot water tank and external cooling water
Record of all relevant measured values and display directly at the location of measurement
Software for data acquisition via USB under Windows Vista or Windows 7