Performance Analysis of Water-Water Heat Pump System of 100 kW Scale for Cooling Agricultural Facilities

Purpose: In this study, the performance of cooling system with the water-water heat pump system of 100kW scale made for cooling agricultural facilities, especially for horticultural facilities, was analyzed. It was intended to suggest performance criteria and performance improvement for the effective cooling system. Methods: The measuring instruments consisted of two flow meters, a power meter and thermocouples. An ultrasonic and a magnetic flow meter measured the flow rate of the water, which was equivalent to heat transfer fluid. The power meter measured electric power in kW consumed by the heat pump system. T-type thermocouples measured the temperature of each part of the heat pump system. All of measuring instruments were connected to the recorder to store all the data. Results: When the water temperature supplied into the evaporator of the heat pump system was over $20^{\circ}C$, the cooling Coefficient Of Performance(COP) of the system was higher than 3.0. As the water temperature supplied into the evaporator, gradually, lowered, the cooling COP, also, decreased, linearly. Especially, when the water temperature supplied into the evaporator was lower than $15^{\circ}C$, the cooling COP was lower below 2.5. Conclusions: In order to maintain the cooling COP higher than 3.0, we suggest that the water temperature supplied into evaporator from the thermal storage tank should be maintained above $20^{\circ}C$. Also, stratification in the thermal storage tank should be formed well and the circulating pumps and the pipe lines should be arranged in order for the relative low-temperature water to be stored in the lower part of the thermal storage tank.