High Performance Equipment
Faculty within the CHPB have a long history of research related to primary and secondary HVAC&R; equipment used in buildings, including compressors, heat exchangers, expansion valves, vapor compression heat pumps and air conditioners, alternative heat pumping and refrigeration cycles, furnaces, household appliances (refrigerators, water heaters, dryers, dishwashers), etc. Examples of recent technology development and evaluation includes novel compressor technologies, high performance heat pumps for extreme climates, liquid-flooded Ericsson cycles for low temperature cooling and high temperature power production, work recovery devices for cooling equipment. Another focus area has been development of improved modeling approaches useful for design and analysis of equipment, including for compressors, vapor compression equipment, geothermal heat exchange, heat exchanger fouling, small-scale power production, etc. The group has access to variety of state-of-art equipment test facilities, including compressor calorimeter and high gas-bypass test stands, a heat exchanger facility for evaluating performance and fouling effects, two pairs of psychrometric chambers for testing of heat pumps and air conditioners, and a geothermal bore field for testing new technologies, controls, and modeling approaches.
Facilities:
Current Projects
- Automated Compressor Performance Mapping
- Cycle Integration of Isothermal Linear Compressor and Scaling-Up Linear Compressor for Residential HP
- Development of a “Fast” Dynamic Simulation Tool for Vapor Compression Cycles
- Load-Based Performance Testing and Rating for Packaged Commercial Air-Conditioning Systems
- Low-Cost Flammable Refrigerant Leak Detector
- Packaged Propane Heat Pumps with Secondary Loops and Variable-Temperature Metal-Hydride Energy Storage
- Theoretical Analysis of the Noise and Vibration Generated by Gas Pressure Pulsations in Hermetic Compressors