Analysis of the Air-Reversed Brayton Heat Pump with Different Layouts of Turbochargers for Space Heating

The air-reversed Brayton cycle produces charming, environmentally friendly effects by using air as its refrigerant and has potential energy efficiency in applications related to space heating and building heating. However, there exist several types of cycle that need to be discussed. In this paper, six types of air-reversed Brayton heat pump with a turbocharger, applicable under different heating conditions, are developed. The expressions of the heating coefficient of performance (COP) and the corresponding turbine pressure ratio are derived based on thermodynamic analysis. By using these expressions, the effects of turbine pressure ratio on the COP under different working conditions are theoretically analyzed, and the optimal COPs of different cycles under specific working conditions are determined. It is observed that Cycles A and C have the highest heating COPs, and there is an optimal pressure ratio for each cycle. The corresponding pressure ratio of the optimal COP is different, concentrated in the range of 1.5–1.9. When the pressure ratio reaches the optimal value, increasing the pressure ratio does not significantly improve the heating COP. Take Cycle F as an example: the maximum error between the calculated results and experimental observation is lower than 5.6%. These results will enable further study of the air-reversed Brayton heat pump with a turbocharger from a different perspective.

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