Water Source Heat Pump Loop Design

Each unit is an independent packaged system eliminating the chance of a total system failure.

Water source heat pump loop design.

Water source heat pump wshp and ground source heat pump gshp systems. Each unit is individually packaged and relieves the stress of having the building rely on one hvac unit to. Simple in design a wshp rejects heat in the cooling cycle through a cooling tower loop. In combination with the heat pump s water to refrigerant heat exchanger they form a closed loop piping system.

The piping loop s begin and end at the heat pump. Topics include the latest technologies being used in heat pumps design and control of the water distribution loop and dedicated outdoor air system ground source systems and a review of the requirements in ashrae standard 90 1 that apply to wshp gshp systems. A water source heat pump extracts heat from the water when in the heating mode and rejects heat to the water when in the cooling mode. The closed water loop provides condenser water to the interior zone cooling units picking up the heat normally rejected to a cooling tower and transferring it as the heat source evaporator load for the perimeter zone heat pumps.

As the most energy efficient hvac systems on the market water source heat pumps wshps are uniquely simple in design. Heat is moved through an interconnected water loop and either rejected through a cooling tower or put to work in other areas. Open loop systems can present particular challenges and will require the services of a specialist. From one medium to another.

The water loop is piped through a building and each heat pump is connected individually. Once filled with fluid and purged of air nothing enters or leaves this closed loop system. Cp3 and cp2 for open loop groundwater source heat pumps and surface water heat pump systems respectively. Water for closed loop heat pumps is usually circulated at 2 25 to 3 00 gpm per ton of unit cooling capacity.

The closed loop water source heat pump concept provides an extremely simple highly flexible and unusually reliable semi decentralized system approach to year round space conditioning of multi room buildings. The water supply may be a recirculating closed loop or a once thru system using water from a well a pond or a stream. They can be open loop or closed loop systems. The design and installation of ground source systems should be undertaken with care and attention.

Water source heat pump applications utilize low system return temperatures and most boiler designs such as cast iron and smooth tube cannot operate with system temperatures below 140 f without condensing. When a non condensing boiler condenses soot is formed which builds up on the heat exchanger and burners and reduces its thermal efficiency. In addition unlike ground source heat pumps water source heat pumps do not require trenches for coils to be laid in although open loop systems often require filtration.