CLB 20403 THERMODYNAMICS JULY 2018

EXPERIMENT 4

HEAT PUMP

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OBJECTIVE:

 To produce the performance curve of heat pump over a range of source and delivery
temperatures.

1.0 KEYWORDS
Heat pump

2. 0 OVERVIEW
A heat pump is a device that absorbs heat from a waste source or surroundings to produce
valuable heat on a higher temperature level than that of the heat source. The fundamental
idea of a heat pump is that heat is absorbed by a medium, which releases the heat at a
higher temperature after a physical or chemical transformation.
Heat pump technology has attracted increasing attention as one of the most
promising technologies to save energy. Areas of interest are heating of buildings, recovery
of industrial waste heat for steam production and heating of process water.

3. 0 INTRODUCTION

3.1 Unit Assembly

The SOLTEQ Mechanical Heat Pump (Model: HE165) is a bench top unit with all
components and instrumentations mounted on a sturdy base. The heat pump consists of a
hermetic compressor, a water-cooled plate heat exchanger (condenser), a thermostatic
expansion valve and an air heated evaporator. The arrangement of the components is in
a manner similar to that used for many domestic air-water heat pumps where they are
visible from the front of the unit.
During the operation, slightly superheated refrigerant(R-134a) vapour enters the
compressor from the evaporator and its pressure is increased. Thus the temperature rises
and the hot vapour then enters the water cooled condenser. Heat is given up to the cooling
water and the refrigerant condenses to liquid before passing to the expansion valve. Upon
passing through the expansion valve, the pressure of the liquid refrigerant is reduced. This
causes the saturation temperature to fall below the ambient value. Thus, as it flows through
the evaporator, there is a temperature difference between the refrigerant and the air being
drawn across the coils. The resulting heat transfer causes the refrigerant to boil, and upon

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leaving the evaporator it has become slightly superheated vapour, ready to return to the
compressor.
The temperature at which heat is delivered in the condenser is controlled by the
water flow rate and its inlet temperature. The evaporating temperature is largely
determined by the ambient air conditions. Instrumentations are provided for the
measurement of flow rates of both refrigerant and cooling water, power input to the
compressor and all relevant temperatures.

3.2 Unit Construction

Figure 1: Unit Construction of Mechanical Heat Pump (Model: HE165)

1. Control Panel 4. Evaporator

2. Compressor 5. Low Pressure Cut – Off Switch

3. High Pressure Cut-Off Switch 6. Condenser

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Figure 2: Schematic Diagram for Mechanical

Heat Pump (Model: HE165)

4.0 THEORY
Most of the heat pumps operate on the principle of the vapour compression cycle. In this
cycle, the circulating substance is physically separated from the heat source and heat
delivery, and is cycling in a closed stream. The cycle is therefore called a ‘closed cycle’
which consists of the following processes:
1. In the evaporator, the heat is extracted from the heat source to boil the
circulating substance;
2. The circulating substance is compressed by the compressor, raising its pressure
and temperature;
3. The heat is delivered to the condenser;
4. The pressure of the circulating substance
(working fluid) is reduced back to the
evaporator condition in the throttling valve

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Figure 3: The Closed Loop Vapour Compression Cycle

Figure 4: A Pictorial Representation of a P-h Diagram

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The Coefficient of Performance, (COPH) of a heat pump cycle is an expression of the cycle
efficiency and is stated as the ratio of the heat removed in the heated space to the energy
supplied to the compressor.

Thus, for the Theoretical Simple Cycle, this may be written as:

COPHP =_______Heat Output _______

Work Input to the Compressor

5.0 PROCEDURES
5.1 Start-up Procedure
1. Check the unit and all the instruments are in proper condition.
2. Check both water source and drain are connected, then open the water supply
(**Pleas make sure water supply is fully opened).
3. Check the drain hose at the condensate collector is connected.
4. Connect the power supply and switch on the main switch at the control panel.
5. Set the cooling water flowrate to 80±0.5 % (4.0 LPM) by adjusting cooling water
valve slowly and carefully.
6. Switch on the refrigerant compressor and evaporator fan.
7. Switch on the computer, choose HE165 software and key in password “HE165”.
Click CLOSE for the event log viewer.
8. The unit is now ready for experiment as soon as temperature and pressure are
constant based on the trend in computer system (All 6 lines will become straight
lines, basically takes around 45-60 minutes).

5.2 Experimental Procedure

1. Once the temperature and pressure are constant, record all the necessary readings
into the experimental data sheet.
2. Repeat the experiment with reducing cooling water flowrate so that the cooling
water outlet temperature, TT6 increase by 3±0.5 °C (Students are advised to
reduce the cooling water flowrate gradually by 5%. Wait 30 seconds to check the
increasing of cooling water outlet temperature. Once the temperature increase by
3±0.5 °C, wait 5 minutes for the unit to become stable)

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3. Repeat the experiment 4 times (Please make sure high cut off pressure, PT2 do
not exceed 14.0 bar).
Note: The cooling water rate display is in percentage (%). Below is the formula to
convert cooling water flow rate to LPM.

1. Cooling water flow rate (LPM)= Cooling water flow rate (%) ×5.0 LPM
100%

5.3 Shutdown Procedures

1. Close HE165 Software. Click exit and shutdown the computer.
2. Fully open the cooling water valve.
3. Switch off the refrigerant compressor, evaporator fan followed by the main switch
and power supply.
4. Close the water supply and ensure that water is not left running.

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6.0 DATA SHEET

Test 1 2 3 4 5
Cooling water %
flowrate , FT2
Cooling water LPM
flowrate, FT2
Cooling water °C
inlet temperature,
TT5
Cooling water °C
outlet
temperature, TT6
Compressor W
power input

7.0 TASKS
Plot the performance curves for heat pump (Coefficient of Performance, heat
delivered and compressor power input) versus cooling water outlet temperature, TT6.

8.0 FORMULA
Heat Output = FT2 (LPM) x ρ (water) x 1 min/60 s x Cp (water) x (TT6-TT5)

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