Low-temperature air source heat pump system for heating in severely cold area: Long-term applicability evaluation

Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) have gained popularity in cold regions without central heating owing to their higher energy efficiency when compared with fossil energy sources. Although studies have shown that the short-term performance of ASHPs may meet the heating demand at an ambient temperature of −20 °C, long-term performance under actual variable meteorological conditions needs further investigation. In this study, to comprehensively evaluate the long-term performance of an ASHP system in cold climates, a three-month field test was conducted in Daqing city, which is the coldest region in China. The ambient temperature fluctuated from −24.7 °C to 15 °C during the test. The test results showed that the system coefficient of performance (COP) was related to the outdoor temperature (r = 0.8955), and when the supply water temperature increased by approximately 6 °C under an outdoor temperature of −5 ± 1 °C, the corresponding COP decreased by 14.2%. Apart from the frost temperature of −5 ± 1 °C, the relative humidity (RH) had a slight effect on the system COP. Moreover, during the three coldest days when the ambient temperature ranged from −24.7 °C to −15.0 °C, the heat produced met the heating demand, and the system ran smoothly. Compared with other common heating methods, ASHPs have the advantages of high energy conversion efficiency and low pollutant emissions. From the field test results, it can be inferred that the low-temperature ASHP system is a clean and energy-efficient heating method that is well suited for severely cold regions.