A Thermo-Economic Analysis of Working Fluid and Cycle Combinations For Industrial Heat Pump Applications
A Thermo-Economic Analysis of Working Fluid and Cycle Combinations For Industrial Heat Pump Applications
A Thermo-Economic Analysis of Working Fluid and Cycle Combinations For Industrial Heat Pump Applications
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ABSTRACT
Successful implementation of heat pumps in the industry requires an adequate balance between two
opposing goals: minimizing the system's capital expenditure (CAPEX) and maximizing the thermodynamic
cycle's coefficient of performance (COP). In this study, we identify for several external conditions the working
fluid and cycle layout which combined can provide end-users with the most economically attractive solution
for the installation of a heat pump in their specific process. Consequently, we coupled numerical models of
heat pump cycles and thermo-physical properties of working fluids with specifically developed cost models
for heat pump components. The simulation results indicate that there is a trade-off between CAPEX and COP.
Other economic metrics highlight the importance of a higher COP, resulting in a low operational expenditure
(OPEX). Natural refrigerants result in higher COP (lower OPEX), but the added costs due to explosive
environment safety for flammable refrigerants hamper the CAPEX.
Keywords: Industrial heat pump, thermo-economic optimization, CAPEX and OPEX tradeoff
1. INTRODUCTION
Industrial heat pumps are a viable alternative to fossil fired boilers to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG)
emission of industrial processes with a low temperature (<200°C) heat supply. Industrial processes are
responsible for a quarter of the total energy consumption (Eurostat 2019) and approximately 20% of the total
GHG emissions in Europa (EEA 2019); this does not include the indirect emissions attributed to external
energy supply. One of the European Council's measures to reduce the GHG emissions is to improve the
energy efficiency (European Council 2014). An industrial heat pump, utilizing waste heat as a source stream,
works as a multiplier; by spending 1 unit of (renewable) electricity, an industrial heat pump can generate 3
or 4 units of heat (depending on the heat pump performance) at the required temperature.
. Industrial heat pumps are considered a promising option and are gaining market interest. It is
expected that industrial heat pumps will be more integrated into industrial processes coming years through
demonstration projects (i.e., European call: Horizon-CL5-2021-D4-01). The technology that is applied is
usually a Reverse Rankine or closed-cycle compression heat pump. This technology originates from
refrigeration technology and has been adapted to fulfil the requirements for heating applications. Despite
the promising outlook, there are still several research and development areas that can improve the technical
and financial characteristics of these systems.
During the design of a heat pump, the manufacturer is subjected to a conflicting trade-off between
minimizing the Capital expenditure (CAPEX) and the operational expenditure (OPEX); in other words there is
a balance between the total cost of the installation and the energy efficiency of the system. Adequately
balancing this trade-off is vital to improving the business case for the end-user.
This study aims to identify the working fluid and cycle layout, which combined, can provide end-users
with the most attractive economic conditions for the installation of a heat pump in their process. More
specifically, we derive a selection map for vapor compression heat pumps, in terms of the working fluid and
cycle layout, as a function of the external process conditions, for the production of steam at temperatures
up to 200°C. A selection map can provide end-users with the most attractive solution in terms of short and/or
long-term goals. To achieve this task , we coupled numerical models of heat pump cycles and thermophysical
properties of working fluids with cost models developed for heat pump components. We modelled over
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
twenty working fluids with six different heat pump layouts (e.g., standard, economizer cycle, with a flash
tank) for four heat capacities (0.5 - 5 MW), four sink temperatures (120-200°C), and four external
temperature lifts (40 - 100 K).
The structure of the present article is as follows: first, the thermo-economic model is described, including
the optimization procedure. Later, we introduce the boundary conditions in terms of external (sink/source
temperature and heat duty) and internal (working media and heat pump layout). Next, we discuss the results
of the thermo-economic optimization in section 4, which presents the industrial heat pump selection map.
The final section of this article presents conclusions and future works.
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
• the outlet superheat of the evaporator for the heat pump layouts with internal heat exchanger (IHX),
and
• the mass flow fraction that goes through the economizer (for economizer heat pump layouts).
These parameters can also be optimized for better thermodynamic performance (or lower investment). cycle
layout.
The thermodynamic efficiency is the ratio of the coefficient of performance of the system with respect to the
ideal heat pump cycle:
𝐶𝑂𝑃
𝜂1𝑠𝑡𝐿𝑎𝑤 = 𝐶𝑂𝑃𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙
Eq. (2)
External temperatures were used for the definition of the ideal performance. Moreover, 𝑇̅𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑘 and 𝑇̅𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒
are logarithmic mean temperatures that consider temperature glides.
With the subscripts HS and CS as the hot side and cold side, respectively. The overall heat transfer coefficient
is the summation of the heat resistance across the heat exchanger (neglecting the resistance due to
conduction through the metal and fouling):
1 1 1
𝐻𝑇𝐶
= 𝐻𝑇𝐶 + 𝐻𝑇𝐶 Eq. (6)
𝐶𝑆 𝐻𝑆
𝑊
Constant heat transfer coefficient as given by Zuhlsdorf et al. (2018) were used: Evaporation 3000 ,
𝑚2 𝐾
𝑊 𝑊 𝑊
Condensation 2400𝑚2 𝐾, Liquid 1500 𝑚2 𝐾, and Gaseous 1200 𝑚2 𝐾.
The compressor has a large impact on the heat pump overall performance and the total cost of the
installation. We parametrized the compressor with the power input and the swept volume:
𝑚̇ 1
𝑣̇ = 𝜌 𝜂
Eq. (7)
𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑜𝑙
The motor driving the compressor is sized with the mechanical power provided:
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
𝑊 ̇
𝑊̇𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝 Eq. (8)
𝜂𝑚𝑒𝑐
The diameter of the pipe between each cycle component (𝐷𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒,𝑖 ) is sized according to typical fluid velocities
applied in refrigeration units, selecting a fluid velocity of 1 m/ s and 12.5 m/s for the liquid and vapor sections,
respectively. Thereafter, the length of the piping for each section (𝐿𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒,𝑖 ) is defined with the following
expression:
Where the minimal length of the pipe is set to 𝐿𝑚𝑖𝑛 =2 m and the piping distance factor of 𝑓𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 =20.
The storage vessel is sized by calculating the amount of liquid in the system (within the liquid lines) and
multiplying it by a factor (1.25):
Finally the valves within the system are characterized using the pipe diameter at the inlet of the valve.
We checked the validity of the cost models using quotations available within TNO. The references used came
from previous and ongoing projects. We chose the cost models — for the techno-economic model of the
heat pump— that had the lowest relative difference with the quotations.
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• Piping costs: we have derived the piping cost model using data from the DACE price booklet.
• Instrumentation: The cost regarding the instrumentation and control of the system are related to the
number of sensors (mainly temperature and pressure) in the heat pump (one per piping connection
between components) and the control panel/electronics:
Where n is the lifetime of the heat pump (20 years) and 𝑖𝑒𝑓𝑓 is the effective interest rate defined as
1+𝑖
𝑖𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 1+𝑖 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 − 1 Eq. (17)
𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
where we use 2.5% and 1.5% as the interest rate and inflation rate, respectively, taken from PBL.
We evaluated several economic indicators used in investment decisions .
Net present value (NPV): is the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value
of cash outflows over a period of time. The projects with the highest present values are given the highest
preference among various alternatives (Bejan et al. 1996).
𝐶𝐹𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦 +𝐶𝐹𝐶𝑂2 −𝐶𝐹𝑒𝑙 ±𝐶𝐹𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒
𝑁𝑃𝑉 = −𝑇𝐶𝐼 + Eq. (18)
𝐶𝑅𝐹
Pay-back time (PBT): is defined as the length of time required for the cash inflows received from a project to
recover the original cash outlays required by the initial investment (Bejan et al.1996).
𝑇𝐶𝐼
𝑃𝐵𝑇 = 𝐶𝐹 +𝐶𝐹
Eq. (19)
𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝐶𝑂2 −𝐶𝐹𝑒𝑙 ±𝐶𝐹𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒
1
According to the European directive, an ATEX environment considers the safety of a workplace concerning
explosion hazardous areas and equipment. Extra measures need to be taken to create a safe environment
concerning explosion hazards, making this an additional installation cost.
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
Specific cost of heat (SCH): This cost relates the annual fuel cost, the annual operating or income cost, as
well as the annual equivalent of the investment cost, to the amount of supplied heat per year (for a certain
number of operating hours).
𝐶𝐹𝑒𝑙 −±𝐶𝐹𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒 +𝑇𝐶𝐼∗𝐶𝑅𝐹
𝑆CH = 𝑄̇𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑘 ∗𝑂𝐻
Eq. (20)
Note that we did not consider operation and maintenance costs; maintenance costs are often taken as
2-4% of the original investment cost per year (Bejan et al.1996). Moreover, we have taken the operating hours
(OH) as 8000 hours per year.
2.4. Optimization
We depict a schematic of the overall thermo-economic model of a heat pump in Figure 2. The coloured
squares in this figure highlight the different inputs, outputs, and parameters to optimize. Hereunder we
explain/describe these variables ending with the optimization objective and procedure.
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
Figure 3: Optimization procedure
3. BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
3.2. Internal boundary conditions: working fluids and heat pump layout
The analysis primary focus is to develop a selection map for heat pump layout and working fluid
combinations that provides the optimum depending on the goal (i.e., thermodynamic performance, lowest
capital cost, or most financially interesting project). We chose twenty-five (25) working fluids and three
different heat pump layouts (simple, economizer, and flash tank with or without IHX depending on fluid type).
Table 1 lists all the investigated working fluids. Most of the refrigerants in the list have been
mentioned/studied in literature as possible working fluids for high-temperature heat pumps. We have added
other working media due to their high-performance potential at high temperature (e.g., Dimethyl Carbonate,
cyclohexane, cyclopentane). We differentiate between the working fluids in terms of their type of
compression (wet or dry compression) and their flammability. The former depends on each working fluid's
thermodynamic characteristics: the liquid-vapor saturation distribution in the temperature-entropy diagram.
In terms of the latter, if a working media is flammable extra costs (25% added to the total direct costs) are
included in the installation due to the required ATEX environment. We disregarded particular combinations
of working fluids and external boundary conditions because the condensing temperature of the cycle is
higher than the working media critical temperature or if the evaporating pressure of the heat pump is below
sub-atmospheric2.
2
It is not recommended to have part of the heat pump system under vacuum due to safety reasons and air ingress.
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
Table 1. List of working media
Working fluid Tcrit (°C) Compression Flammability
Water 373.95 Dry -
Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC) 283.85 Wet 3
Cyclohexane 280.45 Wet 3
Methanol 240.23 Dry 3
Cyclopentane 238.57 Wet 3
Acetone 234.95 Dry 3
Hexane 234.67 Wet 3
Isohexane 224.55 Wet 3
Pentane 196.55 Wet 4
Diethyl Ether 193.55 Wet 4
Isopentane 187.20 Wet 4
R1336mzz(Z) 171.35 Wet -
Novec 649, 1230 168.66 Wet -
R1233zd(E) 166.45 Wet -
Neopentane 160.59 Wet 4
R1224yd(Z) 155.54 Wet -
Trans-Butene 155.46 Wet 4
Butane 151.98 Wet 4
R1234ze(Z) 150.12 Wet -
Butene 146.14 Wet 4
Isobutene 144.94 Wet 4
Isobutane 134.66 Wet 4
Ammonia 132.41 Dry 1
Dimethyl ether 127.23 Dry 4
R1234ze(E) 109.36 Wet -
We evaluate three different heat pump layouts: the standard Reverse Rankine, the economizer cycle,
and the flash tank cycle. We depict all the heat pump layouts assessed in this project in Figures 4 and 5 for a
dry and wet expansion fluid, respectively. The wet compression fluids need a suction gas superheater at the
compressor; therefore, for such fluids, we have added an internal heat exchanger to provide superheat at
the inlet of the compressor. Unlike the standard Reverse Rankine layout, the economizer and flash tank cycle
consists of a two-stage system where not the entire refrigerant is compressed from evaporating to
condensing pressure. In the flash tank cycle, the entire refrigerant is expanded after the condenser to a mid-
pressure where the liquid and vapor of the refrigerant are separated. The remaining liquid is further
expanded to the evaporating pressure whereas the vapor is fed to the high-pressure compressor. In the
economizer cycle, the refrigerant is separated into two streams after the condenser: one of them is expanded
to mid pressure3 and is then evaporated utilizing the sub-cooled heat from the other refrigerant stream. The
latter goes through an expansion to the evaporating (low) pressure.
3
The mid pressure is defined such that the pressure ratio of both compressor is equivalent; therefore the pressure ratio of each
compressor is the square root of the overall pressure ratio.
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
Figure 4: Schematic of a heat pump for dry compression fluids
Figure 5: Schematic of a heat pump for wet compression fluids (including an internal heat exchanger IHX )
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
Figure 6: Heat pump selection map as a function of the external boundary conditions
Figure 7: Heat pump layout and working media selection map for a maximum COP
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The Hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) —R1233zd(E) and R1234ze(Z) — have taken the place over from the
hydrocarbons for low sink temperatures (for 𝑇𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑘 ∈ 120 − 140℃) because the ATEX environment is not
needed for such fluids. For higher sink temperatures, hydrocarbons are the cheapest option because the
model discriminates the selected HFOs; their critical temperature is relatively low compared to the
hydrocarbons. There is a need for HFOs (or non-flammable fluid) with a higher critical temperature to develop
cost-effective high-temperature heat pumps.
From the selection map optimizing for TCI, it is clear that there is a correlation between heat pump
layout + working media concerning the sink (condensing) temperature. This is again opposite from the results
using the COP as the optimized variable.
Figure 8: Heat pump layout and working media selection map for a minimum total investment cost including the
ATEX environment costs
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
Figure 9: Heat pump layout and working media selection map for the specific cost of heat including the ATEX
environment costs
5. CONCLUSIONS
Heat pump technologies can significantly reduce the CO2 emissions from industrial processes. Their
successful implementation requires an adequate balance between two opposing goals: minimizing the
system's capital expenditure (CAPEX) and maximizing the thermodynamic cycle's coefficient of performance
(COP). This conference paper presents a detailed thermo-economic study of high-temperature heat pumps.
Various parameters were optimized to develop a selection guideline for working fluid and layout as a function
of external conditions for short and long-term financial attractiveness.
The selection maps for working fluid and heat pump layout correspond to previous TNO studies. In
general, there is a correlation between the working media and heat pump layout with respect to one of the
external temperatures: the source temperature for COP and SCH, and the sink temperature for TCI. The
selection map derived from the optimization of the COP correlates with the optimum economic metrics for
most of the external temperature conditions. The OPEX has a significant influence —and even more so with
the rising energy prices in 2021—on the SCH, NPV, among others. Moreover, the heat pump layout with a
flash tank and internal heat exchanger results in most cases in better thermodynamic performance and lower
operational costs. On the other hand, in terms of minimizing the CAPEX, the simplest heat pump layout
(standard heat pump cycle) is preferred. The ATEX costs influence the selection maps for TCI and other
economic metrics at lower sink temperatures. There are no HFOs available — at least not considered in this
study— for high-temperature (>140°C) heat pumps. Our recommendation is to optimize the heat pump for
one of the economic metrics (specific cost of heat or net present value) as it considers both the CAPEX and
OPEX.
Future studies will include reporting these results to end-users and making them aware of the trade-
off between OPEX and CAPEX. Moreover, we plan to use the results from this study —the identified working
media and heat pump layouts— to generate an experimental plan for high-temperature heat pumps.
15th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference on Natural Refrigerants | June 13-15 | Trondheim, Norway
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The project is partially funded by subsidies of the Topsector Energy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs
and Climate Policy (EZK) of the Netherlands — the project number is TEEI118001.
NOMENCLATURE
Acronyms 𝑄̇ : Heat duty [𝑘𝑊]
ATEX: Atmospheres Explosibles 𝑠: Entropy [𝑘𝐽/(𝐾 𝑘𝑔)]
CAPEX: Capital expenditure 𝑇: Temperature [℃] or [K]
CF: Cash flow [€/kWh] 𝑣̇ : Volumetric flow rate [𝑚3 /𝑠]
CRF: Capital recovery factor [-] 𝑉𝑜𝑙: Volume [𝑚3 ]
COP: Coefficient of performance 𝑊̇ : Work [𝑘𝑊]
DACE: Dutch Association of Cost Engineers
DMC: Dimethyl carbonate Greek letters
GHG: Greenhouse gases Δ: Difference
HFO: Hydrofluoroolefins ΔT𝐿𝑀 : Log. mean temperature difference [𝐾]
HTC: Heat transfer coefficient [𝑊/(𝑚2 𝐾)] η: Efficiency
IHX: Internal heat exchanger Φ: Exergy [𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔]
LMTD: Logarithmic mean temperature difference 𝜌: Density [𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 ]
NPV: Net present value 𝜇: Viscosity [𝑁 𝑠/𝑚2 ]
OH: Operating hours [ℎ𝑟/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟]
OPEX: Operational Expenditure Subscripts
PBL: Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving Comp: Compressor
(Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency) Cond: Condenser / condensing stream
PBT: Pay-back time [𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟] El/elect: Electricity
PEC: Purchased equipment cost [€] Evap: Evaporator / evaporating stream
SCH: Specific cost of heat Gas: Gaseous stream
TCI: Total cost of investment Liq: Liquid stream
TNO: Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Isen: Isentropic
Onderzoek (Applied Scientific Research) Mec: Mechanical
NG: Natural gas
Vol: Volumetric
Symbols CS: Cold side stream of a heat exchanger
𝐷: Diameter [𝑚] HS: Hot side stream of a heat exchanger
𝑓: Factor in: inlet stream
𝑖: Interest rate [−] out: outlet stream
ℎ: Enthalpy [𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔]
𝐿: Length [𝑚]
𝑚̇: Mass flow [𝑘𝑔/𝑠]
𝑛𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 : Life time [𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟]
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