An Experimental Study on the Heat Transfer Performance of an Air-Source Heat Pump Using a PCM Unit for Continuous Heating

Abstract Air-source heat pumps are widely used in winter as heating units due to their higher efficiency compared to electronicheaters or gas fired equipment. However, the air-source heat pump can cause discomfort during periodic defrosting operations.In this study, a PCM unit for continuous heating was adopted to solve this problem. The PCM unit consisted of a PCM,a heat exchanger, and control valves. It was installed between the outdoor and indoor units. The performance of the proposedsystem was measured during both defrosting and heating operations. The indoor unit showed an average leaving temperatureof 26 ℃ after adopting the PCM unit for continuous heating during the defrosting operation. Key words PCM(상변화물질), Defrosting(제상), Continuous heating(연속난방)†Corresponding author, E-mail: yongckim@korea.ac.kr 기호설명 CMM ： 풍량 [m 3 /min] COP ： 성능계수(Coefficient of performance) EEV ： 전자팽창밸브 h ： 엔탈피 [kJ/kg] IDU ： 실내기(Indoor unit) m ： 질량유량 [kg/h] ODU ： 실외기(Outdoor unit) PCM ： 상변화 물질(Phase change material)