Numerical analysis for performance evaluation of a multi-functional CO2 heat pump water heating system

Abstract

In recent years, CO2 heat pump water heating systems have been developed, and their performances have been enhanced while their functions have been expanded. In a multi-functional system, used for both hot water supply and bath heating, hot water retrieved from the top of a storage tank is returned to its bottom or side after heat exchange for bath heating, which destroys the stratified temperature distribution in the storage tank and degrades the system performance. In this paper, the performance of a multi-functional CO2 heat pump water heating system has been evaluated by numerical simulation. A system model was created by combining component models for a CO2 heat pump, mixing valves, a storage tank, a heat exchanger, and a bathtub. Partly, perfect mixing by hot water return was assumed in the component model for the storage tank, and its validity was verified through experiments. A performance analysis has been conducted under daily repeated hot water and bath heating demands, and the system performance was evaluated at a periodically steady state. As a result, the system efficiency and the volume of unused hot water in the multi-functional system decreased by 4.9% and 16.3%, respectively, as compared to those in the uni-functional system, when hot water returned to the bottom of the storage tank. When the position for hot water return is heightened, the system efficiency becomes higher than that in the unifunctional system, while the volume of unused hot water decreases furthermore.