Heat pump (HP) is one of the most energy efficient tools for address heating and possibly cooling needs in buildings. Growing environmental concerns over conventional HP refrigerants, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have forced legislators and researchers to look for alternatives. As such, carbon dioxide (R744/CO2) has come to light due to its low global warming potential (GWP) and zero ozone depleting characteristics. Even though CO2 is environmentally benign, the performance of CO2 HP has been of concern since its inception. To improve the performance of CO2 HP, research has been playing a pivotal role in developing functional designs of heat exchangers, expansion devices, and compressors to suit the CO2 transcritical cycle. Different CO2 HP cycles coupled with auxiliary components, hybrid systems, and refrigerant mixtures along with advanced control strategies have been applied and tested. This paper presents a complete overview of the most recent developments of transcritical CO2 HPs, their components, and applications.

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In recent years, some streams and fisheries have been experiencing higher surface water temperatures, which negatively impact cold-water trout species. One potential solution is to provide localized refugia of colder water produced via active cooling. The present work focuses on the design and testing of a small-scale prototype heat exchanger, for such a cooling system. An effectiveness-NTU approach was used to model the heat exchanger and guide initial development of the prototypes. Based on the model, a staggered, tube-bundle heat exchanger was used. Various prototypes of the heat exchanger were tested in a 1/10th scaled model of a section of the creek. The prototypes consisted of just the heat exchanger placed directly in the scaled-stream model and of the heat exchanger placed inside an enclosure with an aperture. The results show that, without the enclosure, the average temperature difference is 0.64 °C, with a corresponding heat transfer requirement of 1.63 kW/°C of cooling. However, with an enclosure, the average temperature difference is 1.95 °C, which required 0.59 kW/°C of cooling. Modifications to the enclosure impact the average temperature difference and the temperature distribution within the enclosure, e.g., decrease the standard deviation of the temperature difference. Thus, the results show the need for the use of the enclosure to reduce the power requirement for the refugia, and obtain a desired temperature difference with a relatively low spatial variation in that temperature difference.

In recent years Spring Creek in South Dakota, a popular fishing location, has been experiencing higher surface water temperatures, which negatively impact cold-water trout species. One potential solution is to provide localized refugia of colder water produced via active cooling. The present work focuses on the design and testing of a small-scale prototype heat exchanger, for such a cooling system. Various prototypes of the heat exchanger were tested in a 1/10th-scaled model of a section of the creek. A staggered, tube-bundle heat exchanger was used. The prototypes consisted of just the heat exchanger placed directly in the scaled-stream model and of the heat exchanger placed inside an enclosure with an aperture. The results show that, without the enclosure, the average temperature difference is 0.64 °C, with a corresponding heat transfer requirement of 1.63 kW/°C of cooling. However, with an enclosure, the average temperature difference is 1.95 °C, which required 0.59 kW/°C of cooling. Modifications to the enclosure decrease the average temperature difference but also decrease the standard deviation of the temperature difference. Thus, the cooling effect is more evenly spread throughout the water in the enclosure. This indicates that the enclosure design can be used to balance the requirements of obtaining a desired temperature difference with a relatively low spatial variation in that temperature difference. These results will be used to guide the design of the large-scale heat exchanger prototype.

Recent years have seen an increase in surface water temperatures in several streams and fisheries, which has a detrimental effect on cold-water species such as trout. One possibility to resolve this issue is to create localized refugia of colder water generated through active cooling. The current work focuses on a prototype thermal refugia design and field testing. Various configurations of the prototype thermal refugia were tested in a stream, which could benefit from additional refugia regions. The prototypes featured a staggered, tube-bundle heat exchanger placed inside an enclosure with an aperture. The results demonstrate that in remote locations, man-made refugia can be provided. While the base enclosure (91.5 cm × 91.5 cm × 45.8 cm) allowed for excess mixing with the warmer free stream and resulted in low performance (dimensionless temperature difference of θ¯avg= 0.07), additional modifications improved performance. By utilizing a panel or an extension, the dimensionless temperature difference quadrupled (θ¯avg= 0.26) while the average heat transfer per dimensionless temperature difference was reduced to approximately one-fifth (1.92 kWth/θ¯avg) of the base enclosure. But these configurations increased the standard deviation of the temperature differences inside the refugia due to localized cooling. The combination of the panel and the extension did not further increase the standard deviation but resulted in an even higher dimensionless temperature difference (θ¯avg= 0.55) and a lower heat transfer per dimensionless temperature difference (0.81 kW/θ¯avg). This suggests that the enclosure design can be used to achieve a desirable temperature differential while maintaining a reasonable spatial fluctuation in that temperature difference and power requirement.