Solar/gas Rankine/Rankine-cycle heat pump assessment. Final report Mar 81-Jul 82

Technical Report · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982

OSTI ID:6608816

Ezzat-Khalifa, H; Melikian, G

This report contains an assessment of the technical and economic feasibility of Rankine-cycle solar-augmented gas-fired heat pumps (SAGFHP) for multi-family residential and light-commercial applications. The SAGFHP design considered in this report is based on the successful UTRC turbocompressor system which has been tested both in the laboratory and in a solar cooling installation in Phoenix, AZ. An hour-by-hour modeling of present-design SAGFHP performance in multi-family and office buildings in New York, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Oregon indicated that, even without solar augmentation, primary energy savings of up to 17% and 31% could be achieved relative to advanced furnace plus electric air conditioning systems and electric heat pumps, respectively. Extensive design and economic evaluations of the SAGFHP were conducted for a wide range of solar collector areas, thermal storage capacities, natural gas and electricity prices and economic assumptions.

• Research Organization: United Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6608816
• Report Number(s): PB-82-254863; UTRC-R-82-955621
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140901* -- Solar Thermal Utilization-- Space Heating & Cooling
AIR CONDITIONERS
BUILDINGS
COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
EQUIPMENT
EVALUATION
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
HEAT PUMPS
HEATING
HEATING SYSTEMS
RANKINE CYCLE
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SOLAR AIR CONDITIONERS
SOLAR COOLING SYSTEMS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR HEATING SYSTEMS
SOLAR-ASSISTED HEAT PUMPS
SPACE HEATING
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES