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Experimental assessment of the effect of refrigerant charge levels on variable-speed heat pump performances.

Number: 2451

Author(s) : HLANZE P., CAI J., KIM D.

Summary

Comprehensive exploration of heat pump responses to different refrigerant charge levels and compressor speed settings is crucial for devising optimal control and fault detection and diagnosis strategies. However, this aspect remains largely unexplored in the literature for variable speed heat pumps. This paper presents an experimental study to investigate the effect of the refrigerant charge level on the energy performance of variable-speed heat pumps based on laboratory testing. The laboratory tests were conducted under the A, E, B, H1 and H2 indoor and outdoor temperature conditions stipulated by the AHRI Standard 210/240. For each indoor and outdoor temperature condition, the cooling/heating capacity and COP were determined from steady-state measurements at different combinations of refrigerant charge, compressor speed and supply-air flow rate. The results demonstrate that a 39 % decrease in refrigerant charge from the manufacturer-suggested charge level results in reductions of up to 23 %, 26 % and 18 % in COP and cooling and heating capacity, respectively, at nominal compressor/fan speeds. An increase of 28% in charge level results in a decrease in COP of up to 9 %, while the cooling capacity remains relatively constant. Overall, an increase in compressor speed results in a decrease in the COP and an increase in cooling and heating capacity; an increase in supply-air flow rate results in an increase in cooling capacity, while the heating capacity is relatively constant.

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  • Original title: Experimental assessment of the effect of refrigerant charge levels on variable-speed heat pump performances.
  • Record ID : 30033117
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Technology
  • Source: 2024 Purdue Conferences. 20th International Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2024/07/17

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