ABSTRACT

This chapter presents availability analyses of heat-pump and refrigeration systems. It makes availability balances for several heat-pump and refrigeration systems and then compares with the corresponding energy balances. The chapter presents calculations for the second law system efficiency. The heat-pump system generally consists of four components: compressor, condenser, expansion valve, and evaporator. The chapter demonstrates that the heating process is generally inefficient and that the need for an alternative system such as the heat pump is real. In some systems, thermal energy rather than electrical energy is used to drive the heat pump and complete various industrial processes. The waste heat from the power plant is used to augment the heat-pump source. This combined system will result in improved utilization of fuel. The chapter presents various gas refrigeration systems, and also presents the energy balance and availability balance on the refrigeration system.