Thermodynamic analysis and LCCP evaluation of kangaroo heat pump cycle for electric vehicles

Zhenyuan Mei, Yunho Hwang and Jaeyeon Kim

Energy, 2022, vol. 259, issue C

Abstract: The performance of heat pumps in electric vehicles drops significantly at low ambient temperatures due to low suction density and high-pressure ratios. To resolve this issue, we proposed the kangaroo heat pump cycle (KC). It is an enhanced flash tank-based vapor injection heat pump cycle (FT-VIC) that adds a sub-cycle before the refrigerant enters the flash tank, which increases the injection mass flow rate and leads to a higher heating capacity. Thermodynamic cycle models were developed for the basic heat pump cycle, FT-VIC, and KC. Furthermore, their heating performances, the annual energy consumption, and life cycle climate performance (LCCP) were evaluated and compared while using R-1234yf as the refrigerant. Results show that as compared to the FT-VIC, the KC increases the heating capacity by 25.7% and 20.1% and reduces the coefficient of performance by 25.8% and 18.9% when the ambient temperature is −5 °C and −15 °C, respectively. Due to the additional weight of the sub-cycle, the LCCP of KC is on average 4.6% higher than that of FT-VIC. In conclusion, the KC can provide more heating capacity in extremely cold conditions with additional energy consumption but is still more efficient than relying on the low-efficient PTC heater to meet the target heating capacity.

Keywords: Kangaroo cycle; Heat pump for electric vehicles; Vapor injection cycle; Thermodynamic analysis; Life cycle climate performance; R-1234yf (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:259:y:2022:i:c:s0360544222018928

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.124995

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