Numerical analysis of the combination of radiative collectors and emitters to improve the performance of water-water compression heat pumps under different climates

Roger Vilà, Marc Medrano and Albert Castell

Energy, 2023, vol. 266, issue C

Abstract: Radiative cooling allows to cool down surfaces in a renewable way. It can be combined with solar collection functionality to produce heat and cold in a single device known as Radiative Collector and Emitter (RCE). In this paper we propose to combine a RCE with compression heat pumps to improve its performance, producing both heat and cold. Two combined systems are studied: a peak load shifting configuration where radiative cooling and cold production for demand occur simultaneously, and a decoupled configuration with an intermediate tank. The research numerically simulates both systems in different cities and climates, and compares them to a reference system based on a conventional heat pump. The results reveal and improvement of the performance in both configurations: a greater performance of the heat pump is found in the intermediate tank configuration; but after considering the electrical consumptions of all components of the system, peak load shifting configurations exhibit the best performance in most of the cities. Denver, Lleida and Rome – cities with dry climate and moderate cooling requirements – are the top cities with the greatest improvement of the performance. In the solar heating mode, the facilities show an underutilization of the collection field.

Keywords: Radiative cooling; Solar thermal collector; Heat pump; Coefficient of performance; Numerical simulation; Building integration; TRNSYS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:266:y:2023:i:c:s036054422203331x

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.126445

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