A COMPETITIVE STUDY OF A GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP EQUIPPED WITH AN INTERMEDIATE ECONOMIZERFOR R134a AND R513a WORKING FLUIDS

Abstract

At temperatures below 60 °C, the best way to use geothermal sources for heating is to use heat pumps. A heat pump can provide air conditioning for a residential, commercial, etc., all year round by heating in winter and cooling in summer using a low temperature source. Also, a heat pump can be used for water distillation through evaporation. The ground source heat pump with a high COP and low temperature thermal energy sources is one of the best technologies for using RES. In the present study, the effects of changing ambient temperature and soil temperature on a heat pump's overall COP and energy efficiency are investigated using a simulated geothermal heat pump with an economizer. The system's thermodynamic simulation is first performed in the engineering equation solver software for R134a and R513a working fluids. The exergy destruction of different components for both working fluids was calculated and displayed as a figure. The COP of the heat pump for R134a working fluid is equal to 3.916, equal to 3.729 for R513a working fluid, which indicates that R134a fluid has about 5% better performance. The COP of the system for R134a working fluid is equal to 3.662, which is equal to 3.504 for R513a working fluid, which indicates that R134a fluid has about 4.5% better performance.