A Global Solution - Heat Pumps
“Problems associated with global warming and energy supply and demand are issues that humankind in the 21st century must overcome. The key to resolving these problems lies in realizing ‘dramatic improvements in energy utilization efficiency’ and ’decarbonization of energies’. A technology that can accomplish both of these tasks simultaneously is the heat pump.”
(Heat Pumps, the Long Awaited Way out of Global Warming,
by the Heat Pump and Thermal Storage Center of Japan, 2007.)
Introduced in commercial markets in the 1960s for a variety of heating and cooling applications, the heat pump soon expanded into residential markets as a substitute technology for less efficient fossil fueled furnaces and air-conditioners and more recently, hot water heaters.
“Fundamentally, it is not enough to be efficient in the creation of thermal energy – we must systemically conserve what we create if we truly want to reduce our carbon footprint on a global scale”
Rodney Hugelman, PhD., PPE, EcoThermics Chief Scientific Advisor
Professor Emeritus, College of Mechanical Engineering, U of I
The heat pump applies basic principles of thermodynamics to convert solar radiation energy in the atmosphere or earth into thermal energy, or heat. A compressor, an enabling technology in the heat pump, compresses (heats) a gas compound called a refrigerant. The thermodynamic cycle of the heat pump alternately heats and cools the refrigerant in the same way a bicycle pump heats up when pumping (compressing) air and a can of compressed air gets cold when blowing (expanding) air to clean your computer keyboard. With each complete cycle, a heat pump separates the thermal heat energy from a source such as ambient air into two useable streams of thermal energy: hot and cold. Modern air-conditioning uses only the cold stream and vents (or wastes) the hot stream to the outside air. Heat pumps supplement the air conditioning cycle and can also “pump” heat energy from moderately cold winter air to heat a home.
A heat pump produces several times the number of units of heat output for each unit of energy (electricity) consumed. This “coefficient of performance” (COP) can be a factor of four or more. A combustion system (i.e. gas furnace) can never have a COP greater than one; it cannot provide more heat output than what is contained in the fossil fuel consumed.
The power of heat pump technology ~ to recycle clean and inexhaustible sources of low temperature heat energy abundantly available in the atmosphere (and water bodies) ~ is to harness the power of the sun and “decarbonize” our energy sources. Attesting to its compelling value proposition, the global heat pump market has some of the fastest growing segments in the global heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) industry.
However, conventional heat pumps have an Achilles heel in several respects: (i) the dramatic loss of efficiency and/or capacity at temperature extremes, i.e. low and high temperatures, and (ii) the unacceptable logistical burden and environmental impact of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants, which are long-duration greenhouse gases. The former limits heat pump market penetration into very large markets, specifically, colder climate regions and high-temperature commercial water heating/boiler applications. The later reflects the regulatory and market risk of the increasing global trend of using environmentally friendly natural refrigerants with thermodynamic benefits and cost of ownership efficiencies.
We are witnessing several technological shifts that are changing the landscape of the HVACR industry:
(1) Widespread acceptance of heat pump technology as the most efficient method of heating and cooling, and
(2) Selection of natural refrigerants and corresponding decline of synthetic refrigerants that have long dominated the industry. This transition represents a truly disruptive technological shift in an enormous world-wide market and will create tremendous opportunities for companies with proven CO2 technologies.
EcoThermics is developing a natural refrigerant (CO2) compressor that will significantly improve the energy efficiency, comfort, and performance of heat pumps across the entire range of operation, particularly at cold temperatures or for heating water to high temperatures.