TA-23-C022 – Evaluation of Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort Delivery for a Novel Wall-Integrated Micro Heat Pump in Heating Mode

In this paper, we present a novel radiant heating system with a wall-integrated micro heat pump that consists of a variable-speed miniature compressor, aluminum roll-bond condenser and evaporator. The interior surface temperature of the wall empowered by the micro heat pump can be independently controlled to deliver thermal comfort and thus meet occupant needs. We use both systems modeling and laboratory experiments in this study to assess the performance of the wall-integrated micro heat pump. At first, the design and Modelica model of the micro heat pump are presented, and then integrated into a zone model. In addition, a model of a typical air-to-air heat pump is developed and used as a baseline. The COP of the micro heat pump under various conditions is investigated and compared with the baseline system. An energy consumption comparison between the two systems in heating mode at equivalent thermal comfort levels is also presented. Furthermore, the thermal comfort performance of the micro heat pump is experimentally emulated in a recently constructed Human Building Interactions Laboratory. The facility employs a hydronic system to provide heating or cooling to the individual wall, ceiling, and floor panels by adjusting a mixture of hot and cold supply water. For the experiments, the facility was configured to emulate a typical residential living room with the integration of micro heat pump in the exterior walls. Two major comfort metrics, radiant asymmetry and operative temperature distribution, were investigated, and the results are discussed.