Performance and Optimization of Air Source Heat Pump Water Heater with Cyclic Heating

A new type of microchannel condenser applied in the air source heat pump water heater (ASHPWH) with cyclic heating was proposed in this study. The operating performance of the ASHPWH was first tested. Then, the structure of the microchannel condenser was optimized with the implement of vortex generators. Finally, a numerical model of the ASHPWH was established and the optimized microchannel condenser was studied. The experimental results showed that the average coefficient of performance (COP) of the 1HP (735 W) ASHPWH reached 3.48. In addition, the optimized microchannel condenser could be matched with a 3 HP (2 430W) ASHPWH with an average heating capacity of 10.30 kW, and achieving an average COP of 4.24, 14.6% higher than the limit value in the national standard.