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Environmental impact assessments of heat pump–gas fired water heater hybrid system for space heating application

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Abstract

Hybrid systems combining heat pump and gas heater can demonstrate the economic benefits, while their environmental performance is rarely investigated. In this paper, a comprehensive environmental performance investigation has been conducted to reveal the potential for emission reductions. A new environmental impact methodology has been built, and various influencing factors are evaluated. In respect of the climates, the hourly energy consumption emission first increases and then declines, which is the result of multiple effects from the weighting factors of fuel source emissions and each heating sector’s performance. Under the operation condition map for the current study, the effects of the target (final) water temperatures, electricity generation emission factor reduction, and price ratios are revealed to be the top 3 heaviest fluctuations for emissions for hourly system operation energy consumption, followed by each heating sector’s efficiency enhancements. The environmental impacts due to hourly system operation do not closely follow the hourly energy consumption profile for the effect of climate conditions and can be quite opposite when considering the effect of fuel source price ratios. In addition, the lifetime environmental performance has been examined for typical cities in China. In the cold region, such as Shenyang, the emission due to the natural gas contributor shares more than 46% of the total emissions. For warm cities (Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chengdu), the emission of the natural gas is only responsible for ~ 9% or even less of the total emissions. A switch from R410A (GWP100:1924) to R452B (GWP100:675) can also lead to ~ 11% emission total reductions for city of Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chengdu. It is anticipated that the viewpoints and insights from this study can be beneficial for the engineers, policymakers, scholars, public, and manufactures to maintaining the maximum sustainability and economic benefits.

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Abbreviations

AHRTI:

Air-conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Technology Institute

COP:

Coefficient of performance

EOL:

End of life

GHG:

Greenhouse gas

GWP:

Global warming potential

HVAC:

Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning

IHX:

Internal heat exchanger

IIR:

International Institute of Refrigeration

LCCP:

Life cycle climate performance

TEWI:

Total equivalent warming impact

Q :

Heat delivery (kW)

m :

Water flow rate (kg/s)

C P :

Specific heat of water (kJ/kg K)

T :

Water temperature (°C)

Y elec :

Fuel price for electricity (RMB/kW h)

Y gas :

Fuel price for natural gas (RMB/kW h)

Η :

Thermal efficiency of the gas heater (1/1)

W :

Power consumption (kW)

HR:

Ratio of the heat delivered by the heat pump to that of the whole loads (1/1)

amb:

Ambient

HP:

Heat pump

gas:

Gas heater

initial:

Initial state

final:

Final state

Max:

Maximum

Min:

Minimum

elec:

Electrical, electricity

tot:

Total

optimal:

Optimal

sys:

System

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to express the deepest appreciation to Z. Li and P. Li for their endless love, support, and encouragement during the uncertainty career path. Special thanks for Miss Cheng Chen for her great support for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ingersoll Rand Residential Solutions, 6200 Troup Highway, Tyler, TX, 75707, USA

    G. Li

  2. Ingersoll Rand Engineering and Technology Center-Asia Pacific, 200051, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    G. Li

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Correspondence to G. Li.

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Editorial responsibility: Shahid Hussain.

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Li, G. Environmental impact assessments of heat pump–gas fired water heater hybrid system for space heating application. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 16, 5537–5558 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-2090-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-2090-3

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