Dynamic Modeling of Air to Air Variable Refrigerant Flow Heat Pump System

In variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heat pumps facing variable environmental conditions, the required load is achieved by means of compressor speed and expansion valve opening. Thus, this type of heat pumps is under transient conditions in addition to steady state conditions. Thus a detailed modeling is essential for an appropriate heat pump analysis and strategy. In the present paper, dynamic modeling of a VRF heat pump is conducted. For this purpose, dynamic modeling of heat exchangers is done via modified moving boundary method. Compressor and expansion valve are modeled in steady state as their thermal transient conditions are much faster compared to heat exchangers. Finally components models are coupled in MATLAB software. Validations indicate the present model with 5.3 percent error is more accurate than the previous studies (10 percent error). By investigating of compressor speed and expansion valve opening variations effect by the present model, it is concluded that transient conditions on system performance such as COP and generation are very effective compared to steady state conditions and these effects depend on the type and size of variation and in this article 15 percent difference is achieved. These conditions must be considered in system strategy, otherwise system real generation and model prediction will be different and consequently thermal comfort will be disturbed. Thus an accurate dynamic model is necessary for all steady and transient conditions and the present model can be utilized.