Chapter 7 EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF A CO, HEAT PUMP 7.1 Introduction This chapter is devoted to the experimental study of a CO2 heat pump system for simultaneous water heating and cooling. An experimental facility was developed in the Refrigeration Laboratory of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IT Kharagpur and tested for different operating conditions. Several heat transfer and pressure drop correlations, cited in the literature to be used for carbon dioxide based system and its components, have been validated by the test results. Finally, the numerical model that was developed for the CO heat pump having simultaneous water heating and cooling in counter-flow tube-in-tube heat exchangers has been validated by the test data. 7.2, Component design and description The transcritical COz heat pump system for simultaneous water cooling and heating have been designed based on the numerical simulation presented in chapter 4. ‘The schematic diagram of designed CO heat pump system along with location of various sensors is shown in Figure 7.1. The system was designed for an expected cooling capacity of | ton (=3.56 kW). Both evaporator and gas cooler are counter-flow tube-in- tube heat exchangers. Since the numerical simulation showed that the oj um gas cooler to evaporator heat transfer area ratio was above 1.5, the dimensions of heat exchangers have been chosen to match heat transfer area ratio of approximately 1.5. Stainless steel was chosen as the material for all system components to sustain the high pressure. Due to the very high-pressure existing in the system and other special characteristics of the working fluid and operating conditions, all system components were designed carefully for smooth operation, Design details of all components are given below: 149)Condenser * Electrical Power input Tank Pump ce, Gas Cooler vompressor OP score [smmammeen! Oo] Needle Vaive i) on} ® @D tt @ Evaporator § =a Separator f Wael] Pump “Tank — oe, Water FF= Pressure conser T= Temperatura sensan M= Wass Taw mater SV= Safety wale Figure 7.1: A fully instrumented CO; heat pump test facility for simultaneous water cooling and heating 7.2.1 Compressor Table 7.1 CO, compressor specifications Model TCS 113 Bore/ stroke 22 mm/ 17mm Displacement 2.2m‘/h Input voltage 3-phase, 380-420 V @ 50 Hz Max Pressure 150 bar Oil Dorin CL80 Capacity 2.5 KW @ 2900 rpm n for the experimental The detailed ‘A Dorin CO compressor (model TCS113) was cho: investigation. The compressor is a single stage two-cylinder model specifications for TCS113 are given in Table 7.1. The motor is provided with Thermikthermal protection. The inlet port of compressor was designed for a minimum suction pressure of 10 bar. The compressor contains a safety valve for a maximum pressure 168 bar. Expected compression ratio was 2 to 4 and the mass flow rate range for the CO2 was 0,025-0.45 kgs. 7.2.2 Expansion device Numerical results in chapter 4 showed that the optimum discharge pressure varies between 100 to 116 bar for the given range of water inlet and outlet temperatures. Hence ‘a maximum limit of 120 bar was considered to select the expansion device, although the minimum discharge pressure was considered as 80 bar. Since it is recommended by the ‘compressor manufacturer to ensure a minimum evaporation temperature of -10 °C (saturation pressure is about 26.3 bar), the minimum suction pressure limit was taken as 26 bar whereas 50 bar was set as the maximum limit, Hence the minimum and maximum expansion ratios for the expansion valve should be 80/50 and 120/26 bar respectively. Swagelok integral bonnet needle valve (model SS-IRS4), shown in figure 7.2, was chosen for this application, Detailed specifications are: stainless steel body, regulating stem, 1/4" inch Swagelok tube fitting for both inlet and outlet, 0.37 Cv (flow coefficient), pressure rating of 345 bar at 38 °C and temperature range of 54 °C to 232°C. FEATURES/BENEFITS LIVE LOADED PACKING SYSTEM -M Packing nut - makes external adjustments fast and easy ‘m= Packing springs - live- ‘oad packing to redvce fugive emissions, ‘m2 piece chevron packing offers improved sealing buen conventional packing sesigne Fully eupportec packing - reduces need for aojustment pated Figure 7.2 Swagelok Integral Bonnet Needle Valve (Courtesy: Swagelok) 1517.2.3 Evaporator Heat transfer and pressure drop analysis of the evaporator showed that a decrease in tube diameter could improve the heat transfer although at the cost of pressure drop increasing at a very faster rate (as discussed in chapter 5). For the present system design condition, 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) OD tube will give rise to considerable pressure drop (expected pressure drop will be up to 2.5 bar), whereas a lower standard diameter 1/4 inch (6.35 mm) OD will lead to very high pressure drop. Hence, 3/8 inch OD was chosen for the evaporator. The tube thickness was taken as | mm (yielding an ID of 7.5 mm), which is sufficient to sustain the expected refrigerant pressure. For water side (annulus), standard stainless tube of 5/8 inch (16 mm approximately) OD with 1 mm thickness (hence ID = 14 mm) was taken, although that was slightly higher than the design value Design mass flow rate of water was 1.2-3.2 L/min. The cross-sectional ratio of water to refrigerant was 1.88, Total design length for the evaporator tubes was taken as 7.2 m. Figure 7.3 shows a layout of the tube-in-tube counter-flow evaporator, which was designed and developed for the test facility. Refrigerant flows through inner tube whereas the water flows through the annulus. For the sake of simplicity of fabrication, only one row was considered. The evaporator contains 9 parallel segments, each having 0.8 m length (total 7.2 m), where the refrigerant tubes are connected by 180° circular bends having the same diameter and the water tubes are connected by 90° straight tube of % inch OD. Sufficient gap between the two parallel segments was maintained in fabrication for proper insulation and handling. The fabrication of the evaporator was done by brass and silver brazing within the laboratory. Special care was taken during fabrication to maintain uniform gap between the two tubes to obtain uniform peripheral heat transfer. After the fabrication, the evaporator was tested up to a pressure of 75 bar for leak detection and pressure sustainability. The fabricated evaporator has an effective length 0.825 m (total length is 7.4 m considering the 9 segments). The evaporator was properly insulated using glassfibre insulation to reduce the heat transfer with the ambient. Thermocouples were connected to cach segment for detailed study of heat transfer through the evaporator. 152@ 12.0 moi 216mm, t=1mm S095 mm, 1=1mm o 4+ 2100 rn —————}__etrermocouptepeston Figure 7.3: Design layout of evaporator 7.2.4 Gas cooler Due to single-phase flow in the gas cooler, pressure drop is very low compared to that of evaporator for the same conditions and the same diameter (as discussed in chapter 5). For 1/4 inch OD, the maximum pressure drop is around 1 bar accompanied by excellent heat transfer rate as is evident from the simulation. Hence for the present system design condition, 1/4 inch (6.35 mm) OD was chosen for the gas cooler. The tube thickness was taken as 0.8 mm (leading to 4,75 mm ID), which is sufficient to withstand the expected refrigerant pressure in the gas cooler. For the water side (tube annulus), standard stainless tube of 12 mm OD with | mm thickness (10 mm ID) was taken. Mass flow rate of water was in the range of 1.2-3.2 L/min for design conditions. The cross- sectional area ratio of water to refrigerant was 2.64. Total designed heat transfer length. for the gas cooler was taken as 14 m. Figure 7.4 shows the layout of tube-in-tube counter- flow gas cooler, which was designed for the experiment, Refrigerant flows through inner tube whereas the water flows through the annulus. For the sake of simplicity of fabrication, only two rows were considered. Gas cooler contains 14 parallel segments intwo rows, ich 1 m long, where the refrigerant tubes are connected by 180° circular bends having the same diameter and the water tubes are connected by 90° straight tubes of 9.5 mm OD. Sufficient gap between the two parallel segments was maintained in fabrication for proper insulation and handling. The gas cooler fabrication closely followed that of the evaporator and similar practices were implemented in both the fabrication processes. After the fabrication, the gas cooler was tested up to a pressure of 120 bar for leak detection and pressure sustainability. The fabricated gas cooler, as shown in Figure 7.5, has an effective total heat transfer length of about 13.6 m. The gas cooler was properly insulated by glassfibre insulation to reduce the heat transfer with the ambient, The thermocouples were connected to each segment for detailed study of heat transfer through the gas cooler. 7” @12 mm, t=i mm acs © | @ 6.35 mm, oamm YP =I [1000 mm —————]_ Buitble diamacter forbencing ¢¢ Thermocouple location Figure 7.4: Design layout gas cooler 7.2.5 Separator The separator was designed for a total refrigerant capacity of 8 L. Figure 7.6 shows the separator, which was fabricated by rolling of stainless steel sheet metal followed by tungsten inert gas welding. Mean diameter and height of separator are 175 mm and 350 mm, respectively. A wall thickness of 6 mm was taken for both side-wall 154and upper and lower plates. Sufficient insulation was added to reduce the heat transfer with the ambient. The separator has two ports; the inlet port is at the lower end and the outlet port is at the upper end. Due to atomization of liquid refrigerant, it is possible that carry-over of some liquid occurs which along with the vapor goes to the compressor. To prevent this, two parallel horizontal thin plates covering 2/3 area, were installed inside the cylinder for separation of the liquid fraction, Figure 7.5 Insulated gas cooler Figure 7.6: (a) receiver, (b) separator 1551.2.6 Receiver It was expected that the receiver would contain mostly liquid (high density), Hence, it was designed for a total reftigerant capacity of 2 L (lower than that of separator). Figure 7.6 shows the receiver, which was fabricated similar to the separator. Inner diameter and height of receiver are 90 mm and 300 mm, respectively. A thickness of 6 mm was taken for both side-wall and upper and lower plates. Receiver was properly insulated as well. Among the two ports, inlet port is at the higher side and the outlet port is at the lower side, A pressure gauge was fitted on the upper side. 7.2.7 Condensing unit As the maximum design heating capacity was estimated to be 6 kW, the condensing unit was designed for this load. The hot water from the gas cooler was re- circulated through the air-cooled condensing coil of 6 kW capacity to cool down to its initial temperature at the inlet to the gas cooler. To control the water outlet temperature from coil (or cooling effect), a variable speed fan was used with the coil. An insulated tank with storage capacity of 25 L was used after the coil. A centrifugal pump was used to supply the water to gas cooler. The pumping power was calculated by estimating the total pressure drop in the water circuit including all bends, reducers and expanders. The condensing unit contains flow control valve to control the mass flow rate and the flow meter to measure the water flow rate, 7.2.8 Water re-circulation loop in evaporator An arrangement similar to the gas cooler was incorporated with the evaporator to supply water at constant temperature and flow rate. Water re-circulation loop for evaporator contains heater, insulated tank, centrifugal pump, flow control valve and mass flow meter. Heating arrangement comprises number of immersion heaters of total capacity 3.5 kW. By on-off control of each heater, the input heater load (equal to cooling load of CO, heat pump) was controlled. The pumping power was calculated following the procedure of the condensing unit, By attenuating the heater and the valve, inlet temperature and flow rate to the evaporator was controlled. 1567.2.9 Tubing and fittings All the connections for the refrigerant circuit was made by SS-316 tube of 1/4 inch OD (6.35 mm) of thickness 0.8 mm (ID = 4.75 mm), Tubing was designed for maximum pressure of 150 bar. Total tube length was estimated as 8 m. All the tube connections were made by S$-316 ferrule adaptors. All the tubes were insulated by asbestos rope covered by foam. Figure 7.7 Prototype of transcritical CO; heat pump 7.3. Test facility and test procedure Figure 7.7 shows a photograph of the test facility for the prototype of a transcritical CO; heat pump for simultaneous water heating and cooling with accessories and instrumentation. Saturated or superheated vapour from separator (item 11) is compressed to high pressure through compressor (item 4) and the compressed hot CO2 gas is cooled as it flows through gas cooler (item 6). Then the cooled CO; fluid is expanded to evaporation pressure through expansion device (item 9) and the resulting two-phase COy passes through evaporator (item 10) to give the cooling effect. Two-phase, saturated vapour or superheated vapour of CO) exit from the evaporator and it enters the separator. A receiver (item 7) is used between gas cooler and expansion device to store the COz 157liquid or control the pressures. A Coriolis mass flow meter (item 3) is installed between the separator and the compressor to measure the mass flow rate and temperature of COy vapour entering the compressor. Two Swagelok safety valves (item 2) are used in both low and high pressure sides to control the higher limit of pressure. Four pressure gauges (item 5) have been used in different locations. One differential pressure gauge (item 8) has been used to measure the reffigerant side pressure drop in the gas cooler. COz cylinder (item 1) is used for external charging of CO». A W-bend is provided before ‘compressor to provide superheating of CO vapour, if required. A temperature-controlled bath is used in which W-bend is immersed. Although this was never used, because the outlet of evaporator was already sufficiently superheated at operating conditions. Howe er, this provision for heating the refrigerant could be requisitioned during cooler water inlet ambient temperatures in winter. A separate air-cooled condensing unit has been used to supply water at required temperature and flow rate to the gas cooler. For water inlet to evaporator at required flow rate and temperature, a separate heating unit was used (not shown in figure). Thermocouples were fitted in different sections to measure various temperatures; the sensors are subsequently connected to the data acquisition system (DAS), which is interfaced with a computer as shown in figure 7.8. Before test run, the system was purged by nitrogen gas and then evacuated by a vacuum pump. Then CO; gas was charged from the cylinder. Before setting, all the measuring devices were calibrated properly (Appendix A). Reading of differential pressure gauge and mass flow meters are set to zero, Then extemal heating and condensing unit are started and set to certain inlet temperature and mass flow rate of water. After recording initial reading and starting the data scan of the DAS, the compressor was switched on. To measure the power input to the compressor, a 3-phase energy meter was employed. Controlling the discharge pressure at a required level is important for a transcritical CO system as it needs to operate at optimum discharge pressure, This was achieved by simultaneous control of the total mass of the system and degree of opening of the expansion device. The operating parameters were varied following a test matrix as listed in Table 7.2. 158Figure 7.8: Experimental setup with full instrumentation Table 7.2: Test matrix Parameters Ranges Parameters Ranges Pose 26-45 bar Tesi 30-40 °C Pas 75-110 bar Mey 1.0.2.5 kg/min Tew’ 25-35°C Mey 0.7-1.5 kgimin 7.4 Data reduction Before evaluation of performance, all the readings (temperature, pressure and mass flow rate) have been modified according to the calibrations, Temperatures have been measured at the outer surface of tube wall. To find the bulk temperature of fluid, first heat loss has to be determined. Heat loss per unit length is given by (Figure 7.9): 159In(D,/d,) | In(D, /D,) 2ak,, ak, where, R= a) D, —AN rN dy Tp i i i i 4 > i i i i Tube! wall \ Figure 7.9: Calculation of heat loss from connecting tube f, is outer surface heat transfer coefficient due to combined convection and radiation, Value of f, has been taken as 25 W/m’K. Thermal conductivities of asbestos and foam have been taken as 0.154 and 0.03 W/mK, respectively. Now, the bulk temperature of fluid can be found by, (12) naroa imi @, has been found by Dittus-Bolter equation for water and Gnielinski correlation for single phase refrigerant, For 7, < Tay (evaporator side), heat transfer is from ambient and same procedure has been used; with opposite sign. a, for two-phase refrigerant has been found by Yoon et al. correlation. ‘Volumettic efficiency of compressor has been determined by, = ON where, p, = (P,.T,) (73) al, Isentropic efficiency is determined following, 160where, hy = f(F.%), hy = f(P,.T,) and hy, = (RTP) ro) Indicated power input to the compressor is given by, Fang = P(g hy) (75) Combined motor and mechanical efficiency of compressor is estimated from: Ie —W ny (Woop (measured by energy meter) 8) Evaporating capacity and actual cooling effect of water are given by, =, (Ihany Mang) AG Qo, = Fay. (Toons ~ Too) a7 Heat rejection of refrigerant and heat gain by water are given by, Gop =H, (Ir Bro) 4 Ooo, = bg pe (Tyuiy Toons) 8) Cycle COP and actual COP are given by, respectively COP, = (Que + Qpr)/Mennp & COP gy = (Qos + Qpoe)/ Meany (79) To find the heat transfer coefficient, gas cooler and evaporator was divided into 14 sections (1 m each) and 9 sections (0.85 m each), respectively. By measuring heat transfer g, between CO» refrigerant and water, and log mean temperature difference (LMTD), UA can be calculated as: Us =4,/LMTD (Note: g, , also heat gain/rejection by CO; = heat rejection/gain by water + heat gain/loss with ambient in one segment). Now for segment of length AL, Tit india) ot (7.10) UA a,4, 2m AL aA, Hence, the heat transfer coefficient of COs is found by, 1fumrp find,/d) 1 oy AL aA) | 161Water side heat transfer coefficient (a) wa [30], estimated through Gniclinski correlation 18 test 1 a4 ates test 2 16 $ 815 2 514 8 1.3 12 14 ne Discharge pressure (bar) Figure 7.10 Repeatability analysis for P.y = 35 bar 18 a EEG 8 8 aul fd I B.. i 1 miest 1 08 R 82 02112 Discharge pressure (bar) Figure 7.11 Repeatability and uncertainty data for Pay = 40 bar 162