Heat pump performance-news-96

Heat pump performance

The heat delivered by a heat pump is theoretically the sum of the heat extracted from the heat source and the energy needed to drive the cycle. The steady-state performance of an electric compression heat pump at a given set of temperature conditions is referred to as the coefficient of performance (COP). It is defined as the ratio of heat delivered by the heat pump and the electricity supplied to the compressor.

For engine and thermally driven heat pumps the performance is indicated by the primary energy ratio (PER). The energy supplied is then the higher heating value (HHV) of the fuel supplied. For electrically driven heat pumps a PER can also be defined, by multiplying the COP with the power generation efficiency.

The COP or PER of a heat pump is closely related to the temperature lift, i.e. the difference between the temperature of the heat source and the output temperature of the heat pump. The COP of an ideal heat pump is determined solely by the condensation temperature and the temperature lift (condensation – evaporation temperature).

Figure 1 shows the COP for an ideal heat pump as a function of temperature lift, where the temperature of the heat source is 0