Development of Environmentally Benign Heat Pump Water Heaters for the US Market
Development of Environmentally Benign Heat Pump Water Heaters for the US Market

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Improving energy efficiency in water heating applications is important to the nation's energy strategies. Water heating in residential and commercial buildings accounts for about 10% of U.S. buildings energy consumption. Heat pump water heating (HPWH) technology is a significant breakthrough in energy efficiency, as an alternative to electric resistance water heating. Heat pump technology has shown acceptable payback period with proper incentives and successful market penetration is emerging. However, current HPWH require the use of refrigerants with high Global Warming Potential (GWP). Furthermore, current system designs depend greatly on the backup resistance heaters when the ambient temperature is below freezing or when hot water demand increases. Finally, the performance of current HPWH technology degrades greatly as the water set point temperature exceeds 330 K. This paper presents the potential for carbon dioxide, CO2, as a natural, environmentally benign alternative refrigerant for HPWH technology. In this paper, we first describe the system design, implications and opportunities of operating a transcritical cycle. Next, a prototype CO2 HPWH design featuring flexible component evaluation capability is described. The experimental setup and results are then illustrated followed by a brief discussion on the measured system performance. The paper ends with conclusions and recommendations for the development of CO2 heat pump water heating technology suitable for the U.S. market.

Reliable, Economic, Efficient CO2 Heat Pump Water Heater for North America
Reliable, Economic, Efficient CO2 Heat Pump Water Heater for North America

Author: Young Park

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Adoption of heat pump water heating technology for commercial hot water could save up to 0.4 quads of energy and 5 million metric tons of CO2 production annually in North America, but industry perception is that this technology does not offer adequate performance or reliability and comes at too high of a cost. Development and demonstration of a CO2 heat pump water heater is proposed to reduce these barriers to adoption. Three major themes are addressed: market analysis to understand barriers to adoption, use of advanced reliability models to design optimum qualification test plans, and field testing of two phases of water heater prototypes. Market experts claim that beyond good performance, market adoption requires 'drop and forget' system reliability and a six month payback of first costs. Performance, reliability and cost targets are determined and reliability models are developed to evaluate the minimum testing required to meet reliability targets. Three phase 1 prototypes are designed and installed in the field. Based on results from these trials a product specification is developed and a second phase of five field trial units are built and installed. These eight units accumulate 11 unit-years of service including 15,650 hours and 25,242 cycles of compressor operation. Performance targets can be met. An availability of 60% is achieved and the capability to achieve>90% is demonstrated, but overall reliability is below target, with an average of 3.6 failures/unit-year on the phase 2 demonstration. Most reliability issues are shown to be common to new HVAC products, giving high confidence in mature product reliability, but the need for further work to minimize leaks and ensure reliability of the electronic expansion valve is clear. First cost is projected to be above target, leading to an expectation of 8-24 month payback when substituted for an electric water heater. Despite not meeting all targets, arguments are made that an industry leader could sufficiently develop this technology to impact the water heater market in the near term.

Development of High Efficiency Carbon Dioxide Commercial Heat Pump Water Heater
Development of High Efficiency Carbon Dioxide Commercial Heat Pump Water Heater

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Although heat pump water heaters are today widely accepted in both Japan and Europe, where energy costs are high and government incentives for their use exist, acceptance of such products in the US has been limited. While this trend is slowly changing with the introduction of heat pump water heaters into the residential market, but acceptance remains low in the commercial sector. The objective of the presented work is the development of a high efficiency R744 heat pump water heater for commercial applications with effective utilization of the cooling capability for air conditioning and/or refrigeration. The ultimate goal is to achieve total system COP of up to 8. This unit will be targeted at commercial use where some cooling load is typically needed year round, such as restaurants, hotels, nursing homes, and hospitals. This paper presents the performance results from the development of four R744 commercial heat pump water heater packages of approximately 35 kW and comparison to a commercially available baseline R134a unit of the same capacity and footprint. In addition, the influences of an internal heat exchanger and an enhanced evaporator on the system performance are described and recommendations are made for further improvements of the R744 system.

High Efficiency Water Heating Technology Development
High Efficiency Water Heating Technology Development

Author: Van D. Baxter

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

DOE has supported efforts for many years with the objective of getting a water heater that uses heat pump technology (aka a heat pump water heater or HPWH) successfully on the residential equipment market. The most recent previous effort (1999-2002) produced a product that performed very well in ORNL-led accelerated durability and field tests. The commercial partner for this effort, Enviromaster International (EMI), introduced the product to the market under the trade name Watter$aver in 2002 but ceased production in 2005 due to low sales. A combination of high sales price and lack of any significant infrastructure for service after the sale were the principal reasons for the failure of this effort. What was needed for market success was a commercial partner with the manufacturing and market distribution capability necessary to allow economies of scale to lead to a viable unit price together with a strong customer service infrastructure. General Electric certainly meets these requirements, and knowing of ORNL s expertise in this area, approached ORNL with the proposal to partner in a CRADA to produce a high efficiency electric water heater. A CRADA with GE was initiated early in Fiscal Year, 2008. GE initially named its product the Hybrid Electric Water Heater (HEWH).

Review
Review

Author: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Publisher:

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 580

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Research and Development Management
Research and Development Management

Author: Tugrul Daim

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-05-23

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 331954537X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book introduces readers to essential technology assessment and forecasting tools, demonstrating their use on the basis of multiple cases. As organizations in the high-tech industry need to be able to assess emerging technologies, the book presents cases in which formal decision-making models are developed, providing a framework for decision-making in the context of technology acquisition and development. Applications of different technology forecasting tools are also discussed for a range of technologies and sectors, providing a guide to keep R&D organizations abreast of technological trends that affect their business. As such, the book offers a valuable the theoretical and practical reference guide for R&D managers responsible for emerging and future technologies.