What Are Air Source Heat Pumps?

Air source heat pump is an energy-saving device that uses high-level energy to make heat flow from low-level heat source air to high-level heat source. It is a form of heat pump. As the name implies, a heat pump is like a pump that can convert low-level thermal energy (such as heat contained in air, soil, and water) that cannot be directly used into high-level thermal energy that can be used, thereby saving some high-level energy (such as coal, gas, oil , Electricity, etc.). ^[1]

A heat pump is a method that uses high energy to move heat from low

According to the capacity of the unit, it is divided into: small household units, medium units, large units, etc.

According to the combination of unit types, it is divided into: integrated units (units with one or several compressors sharing a water-side heat exchanger are called integrated units) and modular units (units consisting of several independent modules, called For modular units). ^[2]

Air source heat pump has the following characteristics ^[2]

China has a vast territory, and its climate covers cold, warm, and tropical regions. According to China's "Standard for Architectural Climate Zoning" (GB 50178-93), the country is divided into 7 first-level districts and 20 second-level districts. Correspondingly, the design and application methods of air-source heat pumps should be different in different regions. ^[1]

Winter temperatures in China's cold regions are low and the climate is dry. The calculated outdoor temperature for heating is basically -5 to -15 ° C, and the average outdoor relative humidity in the coldest month is basically between 45% and 65%. The use of air-source heat pumps in these areas has less severe frost formation. Therefore, the frost problem is not the biggest obstacle to the use of air source heat pumps in these areas in winter. However, the following problems restrict the application of air-source heat pumps in cold regions. ^[1]

An air source heat pump water heater is a heat pump water heater that uses air as a low-temperature heat source to obtain domestic hot water, and is mainly composed of an air source heat pump circulation system and a water storage tank. The air source heat pump water heater is a device for making hot water by consuming part of the electrical energy and transferring the heat in the air to the water. In recent years, CO ₂ heat pump water heaters have been studied at home and abroad. ^[1] Document ^[3] pointed out that under the condition of evaporation temperature of 0 ° C, heating the water from 9 ° C to 60 ° C, the COP value of the CO ₂ heat pump hot water system can reach 4.3. When the surrounding air is used as the heat source, the average annual operating heating supply COP value can reach 4.0, which can save 75% of energy compared with traditional electric heating or coal-fired boilers.