Abstract
Recently, the development of a heat pump technology to recover process waste heat and to generate steam of $120^{\circ}C$ or higher required for industrial processes, has attracted attention. The research of conventional heat pump utilizing the available energy is used primarily for air conditioning, and the production temperature is about $60^{\circ}C$, so it is difficult to utilize it for industrial use. Therefore, in this study, we developed a steam heat pump (SGHP) which recovers the waste heat of process and generates steam at $120^{\circ}C$. The low-pressure refrigerant R245fa, considered to be an eco-friendly refrigerant, has been selected as the refrigerant for SGHP in this study since its Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) is zero and the Global Warming Potential (GWP) is relatively low. A flash tank functioning as a phase separator was installed in the rear stage of the condenser, and the saturated water of high temperature was decompressed to generate steam. It was started at the initial temperature of $70^{\circ}C$, and it was confirmed that $120^{\circ}C$ steam was produced after the system stabilized. We have conducted experiments by modifying the system, and ultimately achieved a heating capacity of 101.4 kW and a COP of 3.05.