Experimental Study and Application Analysis on Ground-Water Source Heat Pump In North China

To describe the economical performance and operational characteristic of ground-water source heat pump system (GWSHPS) in North China, GWSHPS was compared with traditional central air-conditioning system (TCACS) for their total investments based upon a GWSHPS demonstration project in Beijing (88000 m² covered area, 4572 kW heat exchange amount). At the same period, an experimental system of GWSHPS in Hebei was investigated with its operational data such as coefficient of performance (COP). The results of the demonstration project showed that the total investment for GWSHPS was 15.2% lower than TCACS, while annual operating cost for GWSHPS was 42.2% lower than TCACS. The test data of the system in Hebei showed that heating coefficient of performance of the heat pump and primary energy ratio (PER) were raised while heating water temperature was decreased. The entering water temperature to the unit ranged from 13.1°C to 17.4°C, with an average value of 15 °C, the heating water temperature varied from 40°C to 50°C, with the standard work condition of 45°C. The COP_HP was about 4.12 at the minimum of heating water temperature, while it was about 3.47 at the maximum of heating water temperature and fluctuated between these values in other temperature. The results of the present work implies that GWSHPS is favorable for North China. However, buildings in North China have high heat load in winter, consequently, GWSHPS designed upon heat load will cause a waste in summer, thus, the solar-assisted ground-water source heat pump system (SAGWSHPS) which combines heat pump with solar water heater can be suggested as the best solution in North China.