DOE has supported efforts for many years with the objective of getting a water heater that uses heat pump technology (aka a heat pump water heater or HPWH) successfully on the residential equipment market. The most recent previous effort (1999-2002) produced a product that performed very well in ORNL-led accelerated durability and field tests. The commercial partner for this effort, Enviromaster International (EMI), introduced the product to the market under the trade name Watter$aver in 2002 but ceased production in 2005 due to low sales. A combination of high sales price and lack of any significant infrastructure for service after the sale were the principal reasons for the failure of this effort. What was needed for market success was a commercial partner with the manufacturing and market distribution capability necessary to allow economies of scale to lead to a viable unit price together with a strong customer service infrastructure. General Electric certainly meets these requirements, and knowing of ORNL s expertise in this area, approached ORNL with the proposal to partner in a CRADA to produce a high efficiency electric water heater. A CRADA with GE was initiated early in Fiscal Year, 2008. GE initially named its product the Hybrid Electric Water Heater (HEWH).

The goal of the Cooling, Heating, and Power (CHP) Program established in 2000 by the US Department of Energy (DOE) is to provide research, development, and testing (both laboratory and field) and to accelerate implementation of distributed electric generation (DG) with thermally activated technologies (TAT). The objective is to provide DG with waste heat recovery, i.e., combination of DG and waste heat recovery utilization to drive various TATunits (heat recovery, desiccant, absorption chiller units, etc) and increase overall fuel efficiency of the technology. Dynamic tests of the CHP system, which were performed at the CHP Integration Laboratory of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), are presented. The CHP system at the lab includes: a 30-kW microturbine generator an air-to-water heat recovery unit, an indirect-fired single-effect 10-ton (35-kW) absorption chiller and indirect and direct-fired desiccant dehumidification units. The dynamic system response of the CHP system was tested during both cold-start-up and power-dispatch (changing electric/thermal demand) modes. The test results provide valuable information for both understanding CHP performance as well as for use to develop better control tools for CHP equipment.

Integrated energy systems (IES) offer the potential for a significant increase in the nation's fuel use efficiency by generating electricity onsite near the load and recycling the exhaust gas for heating, drying, cooling, or dehumidifying. A key challenge for IES is the efficient and cost-effective integration of distributed generation (DG) equipment with thermally-activated (TA) technologies. The US Department of Energy (DOE) launched the IES program in 2001 to focus on laboratory and field research to address these critical issues, advance the technology and accelerate application of combined Cooling, Heating and Power (CHP). An example of IES is the combination of an onsite microturbine with heat recovery, HVAC, desiccant and absorption chiller units. IES, in conjunction with other new energy efficient building technologies, will maximize the efficiency of energy use, reduce harmful emissions to the environment, improve power quality and reliability and provide flexibility for meeting electric power peak load demands as compared with large central power plants. The R&D performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) IES Laboratory focuses on assessing the operational and emissions performance of current DG and TA technologies operated individually and in combination as an IES; developing and verifying mathematical models of the individual devices and IES; and supporting the development of test protocols and standards for assessing IES technologies.The IES Test Laboratory is a flexible test-bed for the configuration of DG (presently a 30-kW natural gas-fired microturbine-generator) with various heat recovery units (an air-to-water heat recovery unit or HRU, direct- and indirect-fired desiccant dehumidification systems, and an indirect-fired single-effect absorption chiller). The exhaust gas from the microturbine-generator (MTG) is used to drive the HRU and/or used directly in the direct-fired desiccant dehumidification unit. The hot air and hot water flows from the HRU can be controlled and directed via automated damper controls in order to test various TES configurations and operating modes. The hot air can be conditioned with an air-mixing chamber.The IES testing results produced so far show that the operating parameters and efficiencies of the overall system and individual devices depend on loading (electric and thermal), as well as on ambient weather conditions (temperature and humidity levels). Outdoor temperature is a major factor since the MTG is located outside and its power and heat output are functions of the outside temperature and humidity and no attempt is currently being made to adjust its inlet air temperature, i.e., air cooling from the TA units. Under certain operating conditions and combinations of IES, the efficiency (including all parasitics) of the overall system can be as high as 55% (based on higher heating value of the natural gas). Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A newly developed, non-ozone-depleting refrigerant blend containing a fluoroiodocarbon compound was compared with R-22 in a laboratory-scale, water-to-water refrigeration cycle test loop. The loop is equipped with a coaxial tube-in-tube condenser, a baffled shell-in-tube evaporator, and a variable-speed compressor. The blend and R-22 were tested at saturated evaporator temperature conditions of about −10 °F to −20 °F and saturated condenser temperature conditions from about 80 °F to 100 °F. The compressor speed was varied such that evaporator (cooling) capacity was held constant at approximately the same value for both refrigerants for each test condition. To maintain equal capacity, results showed the compressor speed for the blend to be at least 53% greater than that for R-22. Measured system efficiency with the blend was at least 25% better than for R-22 for near equal operating temperature and capacity conditions. When allowing for maximum impact of the experimental uncertainties, the minimum COP improvement observed for the blend was about 10%. Ideal cycle calculations using the best available property estimates for the blend and the compressor efficiencies observed during the tests also suggested a 10% improvement for the blend over R-22 (almost all due to better isentropic efficiency of the compressor with the blend). Better thermodynamic property data are needed for the blend and further investigations are needed to fully assess its potential for refrigeration equipment applications.

As part of the effort to improve residential energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse emissions from power plants, several design options were investigated for improving the energy efficiency of a conventionally designed domestic refrigerator-freezer. The program goal was to reduce the energy consumption of a 20-ft{sup 3} (570-L) top-mount refrigerator-freeze to 1.00 kWh/d, a 50% reduction from the 1993 National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) standard. The options--such as improved cabinet and door insulation, a high-efficiency compressor, a low-wattage fan, a large counterflow evaporator, and adaptive defrost control--were incorporated into prototype refrigerator-freezer cabinets and refrigeration systems. The refrigerant HFC-134a was used as a replacement for CFC-12. The baseline energy performance of the production refrigerator-freezers, along with cabinet heat load and compressor calorimeter test results, were extensively documented to provide a firm basis for experimentally measured energy savings. The project consisted of three main phases: (1) an evaluation of energy-efficient design options using computer simulation models and experimental testing, (2) design and testing of an initial prototype unit, and (3) energy and economic analyses of a final prototype. The final prototype achieved an energy consumption level of 0.93 kWh/d--an improvement of 45% over the baseline unit and 54% over the 1993 NAECA standard for 20-fg{sup 3} (570-L) units. The manufacturer`s cost for those improvements was estimated at $134; assuming that cost is doubled for the consumer, it would take about 11.4 years to pay for the design changes. Since the payback period was thought to be unfeasible, a second, more cost-effective design was also tested. Its energy consumption level was 1.16 kWh/d, a 42% energy savings, at a manufacturer`s cost increase of $53. Again assuming a 100% markup, the payback for this unit would be 6.6 years.

A 15-ye. old, 3-ton single package air-to-air heat pump was tested in laboratory environmental chambers simulating indoor and outdoor conditions. After documenting initial performance, the unit was retrofitted with a prototype condenser water-spray device and retested. Results at standard AM cooling rating conditions (95°F outdoor dry bulb and 80167 OF indoor dry bulbbet bulb temperatures) showed the capacity increased by about 7%, and the electric power demand dropped by about 8%, resulting in a steady-state EER increase of 17%. Suction and discharge pressures were reduced by 7 and 37 psi, respectively. A refrigerant oil additive formulated to enhance refiigerant-side heat transfer was added at a dose of one ounce per ton of rated capacity. and the unit was tested for several days at the same 95 OF outdoor conditions and showed essentially no increase in capacity, and a slight 3% increase in steady-state EER. Adding more additive lowered the EER slightly. Suction and discharge pressures were essentially unchanged. Our short-term testing showed that the condenser-spray device was effective in increasing the cooling capacity and lowering the electrical demand on an old and relatively inefficient heat pump, but the refrigerant additive had little effect on the cooling performance of our unit Sprayer issues to be resolved include the effect of a sprayer on a new, high4ciency air conditionerheat pump, reliable long-term operation, and economics.

This report is a summary of the cooperative industry/government program to establish the viability of alternative blowing agents to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The project was initiated in 1989 following two workshops that focused on needed research on thermal insulation blown with substitutes for CFC-11 and CFC-12. The project is directed by a steering committee of representatives of the sponsors and of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The purpose of the project is to determine if the performance of polyisocyanurate (PIR) roof insulation foam boards blown with alternate agents differs from the performance of boards blown with CFC-1. This report describes apparent thermal conductivity (k) results obtained from field and laboratory tests from 1989 to 1992 on a set of experimental PIR laminate boardstock produced to evaluate the viability of alternative hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) as blowing agents. All boardstock was manufactured from similar formulations that were not optimized for thermal performance. Commercial broadstock made in the future may differ in performance from this set. The PIR boards were prepared with CFC-11, HCFC-123, HCFC-141b, and 50/50 and 65/35 blends of HCFC-123/HCFC-141b.

Experimental polyisocyanurate foam roof insulation with 0.6mm thick permeable black facers blown with HCFC-141b installed on test roofs at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for almost three years show various degrees of aging. Four roof systems are being monitored to determine the effect of system type on board aging. The four systems are comprised of a dry stack of insulation boards covered, respectively, by a loose-laid single ply white membrane, a loose-laid single ply black membrane, a built-up roof (BUR), and a fully adhered ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) membrane. A comparison to periodic laboratory testing of the insulation boards is also included. The data analysis program, PROPOR, has been used to estimate the thermal properties of the polyisocyanurate foam insulation, to gain insight into the data and the pure conduction model used by PROPOR through sequential value and residual analyses, and to estimate precision of the results with confidence intervals. These confidence intervals are then used to determine if the differences noted due to aging of the insulation boards contained within these systems are statistically significant.