This study applies the second law of thermodynamics to analyze the irreversibility of air source heat pump systems. By using both T type thermocouple wires to measure the inlet and outlet temperatures of key components in the system and using pressure transmitters to measure the high and low pressure of the experiment systems, we collect data and use two control volume(CV) models to calculate the generative volume and irreversibility of entropy for each system component. According to the experiment results for both CV models (the CV of the refrigerant section and the CV of the whole control), the heat exchanger is found to have the largest irreversibility. The irreversibility error of the condenser is 4.6% and the irreversibility error of the evaporator is up to 21%. By applying the results of this study it is possible to improve the function of air source heat pump systems through improving the heat exchanger, achieving both cost and energy savings.

Date Published: 15 November 2011
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 8321, Seventh International Symposium on Precision Engineering Measurements and Instrumentation, 83211Y (15 November 2011); doi: 10.1117/12.904851

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8321:
Seventh International Symposium on Precision Engineering Measurements and Instrumentation
Kuang-Chao Fan; Man Song; Rong-Sheng Lu, Editor(s)