Prospects for employing heat pumps in the Republic of Belarus

Abstract

ev UDC 621.577A brief analysis of the possibilities of employing sorption heat pumps in the Republic of Belarus is given. Primary consideration is given to the light-duty heat pumps used for air-conditioning systems with automatic switching from the heating to the cooling state (air/water). One important component of sorption heat pumps is the low-temperature power source, which strongly influences the design of the heat pump in terms of economy and environmental protection.The Republic of Belarus is situated in a geographical zone where the average summer temperature exceeds 20 o C and in winter it is close to 0 o C. Therefore, the application of heat pumps is economically sound mainly for heating, although in a certain period of the summertime they can also be used for air/water cooling. It is known that 90% of the global population need heat pumps for the purposes of heating and cooling. In the present paper, primary consideration is given to the light-duty heat pumps used for air-conditioning systems with automatic switching from the heating to the cooling state (air/water). In international practice, to achieve the above purpose, electrically operated steam compression heat pumps [1], in which, instead of the ecologically dangerous coolant R22, coolants R410A and R407C, as well as propane, propylene, ammonia, and CO 2 are used, are widely used. However, in the last few years, publications devoted to the development and implementation of sorption (absorption and adsorption) gas-operated (flame, gas burners) heat pumps have appeared. Unfortunately, quantity production of sorption heat pumps has been set up so far only in Japan and in the USA, while two or three years ago China began their quantity production as a part of air-conditioning systems for industrial enterprises (absorption heat pumps: heat-transfer material -lithium bromide/water) [2]. At present, of the 9 million heat pumps installed throughout the world, Europe has only 450 thousand, and they are used mainly on the basis of the gas-gas cycle for the purposes of heating in winter and cooling in summer. Of these, 135 thousand heat pumps operate in Central Europe only for air and water heating. The demands for heat pumps are satisfied mainly due to their importation from the USA and Japan. Therefore, national programs of production of heat pumps are welcomed and stimulated in every way. In Switzerland, 40% of new one-and two-family houses are equipped with heat pumps. A similar situation occurs in Austria. For private homes, of great interest are light-duty adsorption heat pumps (zeolites/water, silica gels+salts/water; active carbons/alcohol, etc.) [3][4][5][6]. One important component of sorption heat pumps is the low-temperature energy source, which strongly influences their design in terms of economy and environmental protection. Consequently, the design of a heat source depends in many respects on the chosen low-temperature energy source: atmospheric air, outflowing air of rooms (ventilation release), waters of rivers and lakes and ground waters...