Heat pump COP. What it is?

Heat pump COP. What is it?/Reneco

A heat pump is a modern heat-generating device that extracts dissipated thermal energy from natural resources such as air, soil and/or water to heat the heating fluid of the heating system. Formally, a heat pump does not produce thermal energy. Just like a water pump pumps water from the water source level to the consumer level, consuming energy in the process, a heat pump pumps heat from a low temperature level to a consumer temperature level and allows the use of low-grade (low temperature), "waste heat" that would otherwise exist without a heat pump. cannot be used. When transferring thermal energy from a less heated environment (low-potential source of thermal energy) to a more heated one (consumer coolant), the heat pump expends energy, but in volumes significantly less than it transfers to the heated environment. This creates the illusion that the heat pump produces more energy than it expends. Read more: How to choose a heat pump for heating?

The maximum theoretical efficiency (i.e. Carnot efficiency) of a heat pump is calculated based on the first law of thermodynamics and is 8.8. But due to energy losses during operation of the heat pump, the influence of the parameters of the heat source (ambient air, ground or waste water, etc.), as well as the parameters of the heating system, the realistically achievable average COP does not exceed 4-4.5. The smaller the difference between the input and output temperatures, the higher the power factor. Since the input temperature of the heat source is determined by the ambient conditions, the lowest possible supply temperature should be sought to improve the power factor. To increase the efficiency coefficient of a heat pump, an integrated approach is used. Thus, the COP of a heat pump can be improved by reducing the temperature difference between the heat source and heat consumer.

For the heating system this would mean two things:

reducing the outlet temperature to approximately 30° C, which requires the use of underfloor heating, wall or ceiling fan coil units
increasing the inlet temperature (for example, using a large ground source or access to a thermal tank with additional heating from solar collectors).

The heat pump itself can be improved by increasing the size of the internal heat exchangers, which in turn increases efficiency (and cost) relative to compressor capacity, and by reducing the internal temperature gap of the system above the compressor. Obviously, this last measure makes such heat pumps unsuitable for producing high temperatures, meaning that a separate heat source is required to produce hot tap water. Buy heat pump in Ukraine you can by contactingwith Reneco specialists.