Zero Leakage,
Minimum Charge
 

Volume 23, No.2/2005

 


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In this issue

As the considerations about global warming and climate change is increasing so does the efforts to reduce the environmental impacts from
heat pumping equipment. The impact from heat pumping technologies
originates from direct (refrigerant leakage) and indirect emissions
(from power production). In order to reduce the environmental impact
both these effects must be considered. Which of these effects that is
most important will depend on the system and the application. This issue
of the HPC Newsletter addresses means and methods for reducing
the refrigerant charge and keeping the leakages to a minimum. However
this should be done without deteriorating the energy efficiency.
 

Heat Pump News

Increasing markets for heat pumps and air conditioners
Positive market developments for heat pumps are reported from Switzerland (+13 %), Germany (+30 %) and Austria (+18 %). In addition, the air conditioning market is reported increasing in France (+141 %) and China (exports increased by 52 %). (p. 11-14.)

 

Efficiency standards for commercial refrigeration proposed
Requiring refrigerators and freezers used by federal agencies, departments etc. in the USA to meet a minimum efficiency requirement could cut peak load on the American grid by 530 MW, reports a draft standard to the Department Of Energy and Congress. (p. 5.)

Certification of heat pump installers
Heat pump installation contractors must be trained and certified to a common standard throughout Europe. This is the aim of the EU European Certified Heat Pump Installer project. (p. 7.)
 

Publications

The annual report from the HPP is now available
The report describes activities in the Heat Pump Programme during 2004, and can be ordered or downloaded from the Heat Pump Centre web site, www.heatpumpcentre.org.

 

    

Topical Articles

Designing a heat pump for minimum refrigerant charge
Is it possible to design a 5 kW liquid/liquid heat pump that uses only 150 g of propane as its refrigerant? Scientists at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm are well on the way to doing so. (p. 17.)
 

Mitigation of greenhouse gases in refrigeration
Together, commercial refrigeration and mobile air conditioning are responsible for about 70 % of carbon dioxide emissions from the cooling sector. How to tackle this
 depends on the relationship between direct and indirect emissions. (p. 22.)

 

Potential for lower refrigerant charge in conventional and advanced heat pump systems
Optimising a domestic air/air heat pump to use R410A or propane would allow the amount of refrigerant used in it to be reduced by 21 80 % in comparison with the amount of R22 used in a conventional heat pump. A further 40 50 % could be saved through the use of micro-channel heat exchangers. (p. 26.)

 

Non-topical Articles

 

Heat pumps in Romania – a general overview
Is it possible to design a 5 kW liquid/liquid heat pump that uses only 150 g of propane as its refrigerant? Scientists at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm are well on the way to doing so. (p. 17.)