Analysis of Cold Air Recirculation in the Evaporators of Large-Scale Air-Source Heat Pumps Using CFD Simulations

The present study investigates cold air recirculation in the evaporators of large-scale air-source heat pumps. A case study considered a 5 MW air-source heat pump producing heat for district heating. The heat pump comprises 20 horizontal evaporators, where each evaporator is equipped with eight fans. The evaporators were implemented in a CFD model, where the influence of the outdoor wind direction on the recirculation was investigated. Firstly, the air recirculation was analysed with no surrounding obstacles. Secondly, the surrounding building and the real ground topology was included in the CFD model, to analyse their influence on the air recirculation. The results show that recirculation occurs for all wind directions, due to the turbulent behaviour of the flow around the evaporators. The results also show that the presence of a building intensifies the recirculation when it is placed directly upstream of the evaporators due to the presence of vortices in the wake of the building. On the other hand, a ground depression helps to reduce the recirculation by having additional energy dissipation due to the sudden change in the ground direction.