Evaluation of transcritical CO₂ heat pump system integrated with mechanical subcooling by utilizing energy, exergy and economic methodologies for residential heating

A transcritical CO₂ heat pump (HP) system for residential space heating integrated with direct dedicated mechanical subcooling (DMS) is proposed, and mathematical models are developed to study the annual energetic and economic performances considering the influence of frosting. The operation characteristics by adopting different heating terminals used in five typical cities are also assessed. The results show a maximum coefficient of performance (COP) is achieved at the optimum discharge pressure and subcooling degree. The COP is promoted by 24.4% and the discharge pressure is decreased by 2.093 MPa at the ambient temperature of −10 °C and water supply/return temperature of 45/40 °C. The seasonal performance factor (SPF) is enhanced more noticeably for severe cold region. For the case of Harbin using floor-coil radiator (FCR) or normal fan-coil unit (N-FCU) as heating terminal, SPF is improved by 32.0%. The highest SPF is achieved when small temperature difference fan-coil unit (STD-FCU) is employed. The exergy efficiency can also be apparently improved, especially for the cities located in severe cold region and using FCR or N-FCU as heating terminal due to the reduction in throttling loss of CO₂ system. The purchased equipment cost and electricity cost of the CO₂ HP with DMS are both lower than those of traditional CO₂ heat pump system. The CO₂ HP_DMS system using STD-FCU as heating terminal shows superior economical efficiency to traditional system, with levelized annual total cost reduced by 7.51–15.27%.