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A Heater-Assisted Air Source Heat Pump Air Conditioner to Improve Thermal Comfort with Frost-Retarded Heating and Heat-Uninterrupted Defrosting

Author

Listed:
  • Fei Wang

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi’an 710049, China
    Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General Corp., Ltd., Qingdao 266103, China)

  • Rijing Zhao

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi’an 710049, China)

  • Wenming Xu

    (Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General Corp., Ltd., Qingdao 266103, China)

  • Dong Huang

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi’an 710049, China)

  • Zhiguo Qu

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi’an 710049, China)

Abstract

Frost deposits on the outdoor heat exchanger of an air source heat pump (ASHP) air conditioner and reduces its capacity during winter operation. However, the prevailing reverse-cycle defrosting (RCD) turns the indoor heat exchanger into an evaporator and ceases heat supply to the living space. Consequently, the thermal comfort for indoor occupants is deteriorated. This article proposes a heater-assisted ASHP to tackle this problem. With an 800 W electromagnetic heater equipped upstream of the outdoor heat exchanger to provide refrigerant with additional heat, the ASHP retarded frost under original throttling control and compressor speed during the heating cycle (frostless mode), and even removed frost with uninterrupted heat supply to indoor space under little throttling and reduced compressor speed (anti-frost mode). Compared with the original operation of the ASHP when the heater was off (baseline mode), frostless and anti-frost modes extended heating duration by 17.9% and 99.7%, respectively, with comparative time-averaged supply-air temperature. Moreover, COP for baseline and anti-frost modes was similar by average, about 3% higher than for the frostless mode. Further optimizations will be done on the co-adjustment of throttling control and compressor speed to better fulfill the potential of the heater-assisted ASHP.

Suggested Citation

  • Fei Wang & Rijing Zhao & Wenming Xu & Dong Huang & Zhiguo Qu, 2021. "A Heater-Assisted Air Source Heat Pump Air Conditioner to Improve Thermal Comfort with Frost-Retarded Heating and Heat-Uninterrupted Defrosting," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-13, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:9:p:2646-:d:549091
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yikai Wang & Yifan He & Yulong Song & Xiang Yin & Feng Cao & Xiaolin Wang, 2021. "Energy and Exergy Analysis of the Air Source Transcritical CO 2 Heat Pump Water Heater Using CO 2 -Based Mixture as Working Fluid," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Tomas Kropas & Giedrė Streckienė & Juozas Bielskus, 2021. "Experimental Investigation of Frost Formation Influence on an Air Source Heat Pump Evaporator," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-15, September.

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