Swimming pool heat pumps
What is a swimming pool heat pump and how does it work?
Heat flows naturally from a higher to a lower pool water temperature. Swimming pool heat pumps, however, are able to force the heat flow in the other direction, using a relatively small amount of high quality drive energy (electricity, fuel, or high-temperature waste heat). Thus swimming pool heat pumps can transfer heat from natural heat sources in the surroundings, such as the air, ground or water, or from man-made heat sources such as industrial or domestic waste, to a building or an industrial application. Swimming pool heat pumps can also be used for cooling. Heat is then transferred in the opposite direction, from the application that is cooled, to surroundings at a higher pool water temperature. Sometimes the excess heat from cooling is used to meet a simultaneous heat demand. In order to transport heat from a heat source to a heat sink, external energy is needed to drive the heat pump. Theoretically, the total heat delivered by the heat pump is equal to the heat extracted from the heat source, plus the amount of drive energy supplied. Electrically driven heat pumps for heating buildings typically supply 100 kWh of heat with just 20-40 kWh of electricity. Many industrial heat pumps can achieve even higher performance, and supply the same amount of heat with only 3-10 kWh of electricity. Because heat pumps consume less primary energy than conventional swimming pool heating systems, they are an important technology for reducing gas emissions that harm the environment, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). However, the overall environmental impact of electric swimming pool heat pumps depends very much on how the electricity is produced. Swimming pool heat pumps driven by electricity from, for instance, hydropower or renewable energy reduce emissions more significantly than if the electricity is generated by coal, oil or gas-fired power plants.
Different types of swimming pool heat pumps
Almost all swimming pool heat pumps currently in operation are either based on a vapour compression, or on an absorption cycle. These two principles will be briefly discussed in the following two sections. Theoretically, heat pumping can be achieved by many more thermodynamic cycles and processes. These include Stirling and Vuilleumier cycles, single-phase cycles (e.g. with air, CO2 or noble gases), solid-vapour sorption systems, hybrid systems (notably combining the vapour compression and absorption cycle) and electromagnetic and acoustic processes. Some of these are entering the market or have reached technical maturity, and could become significant in the future.
Vapour compression heat pumps
The great majority of swimming pool heat pumps work on the principle of the vapour compression cycle. The main components in such a heat pump system are the compressor, the expansion valve and two heat exchangers referred to as evaporator and condenser. The components are connected to form a closed circuit. A volatile liquid, known as the working fluid or refrigerant, circulates through the four components. In the evaporator the temperature of the liquid working fluid is kept lower than the temperature of the heat source, causing heat to flow from the heat source to the liquid, and the working fluid evaporates. Vapour from the evaporator is compressed to a higher pressure and water temperature. The hot vapour then enters the condenser, where it condenses and gives off useful heat. Finally, the high-pressure working fluid is expanded to the evaporator pressure and temperature in the expansion valve. The working fluid is returned to its original state and once again enters the evaporator. The compressor is usually driven by an electric motor and sometimes by a combustion engine.
Absorption heat pumps
Absorption swimming pool heat pumps are thermally driven, which means that heat rather than mechanical energy is supplied to drive the cycle. Absorption swimming pool heat pumps for space conditioning are often gas-fired, while industrial installations are usually driven by high-pressure steam or waste heat. Absorption systems utilise the ability of liquids or salts to absorb the vapour of the working fluid. The most common working pairs for absorption systems are:
• water (working fluid) and lithium bromide (absorbent); and
• ammonia (working fluid) and water (absorbent).
In absorption systems, compression of the working fluid is achieved thermally in a solution circuit that consists of an absorber, a solution pump, a generator and an expansion valve as shown in Figure 3. Low-pressure vapour from the evaporator is absorbed in the absorbent. This process generates heat. The solution is pumped to high pressure and then enters the generator, where the working fluid is boiled off with an external heat supply at a high temperature. The working fluid (vapour) is condensed in the condenser while the absorbent is returned to the absorber via the expansion valve. Heat is extracted from the heat source in the evaporator. Useful heat is given off at medium temperature in the condenser and in the absorber. In the generator high-temperature heat is supplied to run the process. A small amount of electricity may be needed to operate the solution pump.
