ABSTRACT

This experiment is conducted to study the mechanical heat pump through the operating of
the equipment SOLTEQ Mechanical Heat Pump (Model: HE165). Refrigerators and heat
pumps both apply the vapour compression cycle, although the applications of these machines
differ, the components are essentially the same. There are five different experiments in this
one main experiment- Lab 11 (Refrigeration Unit). The experiment is mainly to obtain heat
output, power input and coefficient of performance by manipulating the water flow rate and
the temperature. For experiment 1 and 2, the procedures are mostly the same where you will
do the start-up procedures and set the cooling water flow rate to 40% and left the system to
run for 15 minutes before data is collected. The only difference for experiment 2 is that you
need to set the cooling water flow rate to the possible highest flow rate and for this case we
have it set on 60% and then the experiment is repeated by reducing the cooling water flow
rate so that the outlet temperature will increase by about 3 0C. For experiment 3, the purpose
is to plot the p-h diagram of vapour compression cycle and also doing energy balance on both
compressor and condenser. The procedures are similar to what we have done in experiment 1,
it is just the data you observed and collected and also the objectives are different. From the
values calculated, the curve is plotted and is compared to the ideal cycle. Next is experiment
4 where you need to determine the compression ratio and the volumetric efficiency. Similar to
before, you need to first do the start-up procedures and set the cooling water flow rate to 40%
and let it run for 15 minutes before data is recorded. All the necessary data is recorded and
calculation is made in order to perform the objective of this experiment. Lastly, experiment 5
where the objectives is to plot the performance of heat pump over evaporating and
condensing temperature. For the procedures, the cooling water flow rate is set to the highest
possible flow rate and we have it on 70% and the data is collected after 15 minutes. The
experiment then is repeated with cooling water flow rate set up at 50%. The experiment
should be repeated with reducing water flow rate so that the compressor delivery pressure
increase by about 0.6 bars but since there is no increment of the pressure even after reducing
the cooling water flow rate lower than 50%, we decided just to repeat the experiment twice.
Overall, the experiments are quite successful but not for experiment 5. This is due to some
errors and because there is no increment of pressure which it should have increase by 0.6
bars, the COP and heat output are also affected.