Exergy analysis of a direct-expansion solar-assisted heat pump system considering the effects of pressure drop of the R134a refrigerant flow

In this paper, the exergy analysis of a direct-expansion solar-assisted heat pump system (DX-SAHP) has been presented considering the effects of the pressure drop associated with the ow of R134a refrigerant through the condenser, collector/ evaporator and connection pipes. In order to calculate the two phase refrigerant pressure drop through the evaporator and condenser, the homogeneous model of pressure drop inside horizontal pipes has been used. The DX-SAHP system mainly employs a bare at-plate solar collector with a surface area of 4 m2, a hot water tank with the volume of 150L, a rotary-type hermetic compressor and a thermostatic expansion valve. Furthermore, the effect of various parameters including ambient temperature, solar radiation, collector area and compressor speed have been analyzed on the exergy efficiency and exergy loss of the system. The results of the simulation have good agreement with the experimental results and show that the increase in solar collector/evaporator pressure drop adversely affects the system COP and the solar collector efficiency. During the operation of the DX-SAHP system within a year, it is concluded that the largest value of the exergy efficiency of the system is 22.7 percent and the lowest value of the exergy loss is 12.6 kW. The obtained values are particularly due to the minimum amount of solar radiation in December. Results indicate that the solar collector has the minimum value exergy efficiency amounted to 12.6 percent and the maximum value of exergy loss amounted to 2.19 kW, among all of the system components.