The high-pressure gaseous refrigerant is led into a condenser, where it releases its
heat energy into the water that circulates between the heat pump and a heat sink
(such as a storage tank, heating circuit, or other heating consumer). As the refrigerant
releases its heat energy and its temperature drops, it condenses into a liquid.
The liquid refrigerant is then led into an expansion valve, where the pressure and
temperature are lowered further. The refrigerant completes its circuit by returning back
to the evaporator, where it receives heat energy from the cooling circuit.
5.3 Heating and cooling
A single heat pump can be used for both heating and cooling at the same time,
without any extra machinery involved. When using the heat pump to cool down one
part of a process, heat is generated as a by-product. The generated heat can be
used effectively in another process which requires heat. The typical coefficient of
performance (COP) in these applications can vary between 5 and 8.
Example of a combined solution
An example of a combined solution is a data center. A data center usually consists
of an office area and a large server room. The server room requires powerful air
conditioning to keep the temperature down at an acceptable level.
At the same time, especially in countries with a colder climate, the office area of
the data center requires heating. Both of these – air conditioning and heating – can
be handled with a single heat pump. In the following figure, a single unit is used to
produce cold water used in air conditioning while at the same time the unit produces
hot water used for heating the office area.
Heating and cooling ver. 1
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