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The coefficient of performance or COP (sometimes CP or CoP) of a heat pump, refrigerator or air conditioning system is a ratio of useful heating or cooling provided to work (energy) required. [1] [2] Higher COPs equate to higher efficiency, lower energy (power) consumption and thus lower operating costs. The COP is used in thermodynamics.
Vapor-compression refrigeration [6] For comparison, a simple stylized diagram of a heat pump's vapor-compression refrigeration cycle: 1) condenser, 2) expansion valve, 3) evaporator, 4) compressor (Note that this diagram is flipped vertically and horizontally compared to the previous one) [7] Temperature–entropy diagram of the vapor-compression cycle.
The coefficient of performance, and the work required by a heat pump can be calculated easily by considering an ideal heat pump operating on the reversed Carnot cycle: If the low-temperature reservoir is at a temperature of 270 K (−3 °C) and the interior of the building is at 280 K (7 °C) the relevant coefficient of performance is 27.
The operating principle of the refrigeration cycle was described mathematically by Sadi Carnot in 1824 as a heat engine. The most common types of refrigeration systems use the reverse-Rankine vapor-compression refrigeration cycle, although absorption heat pumps are used in a minority of applications. Cyclic refrigeration can be classified as:
A representative pressure–volume diagram for a refrigeration cycle. Vapour-compression refrigeration or vapor-compression refrigeration system (VCRS), [1] in which the refrigerant undergoes phase changes, is one of the many refrigeration cycles and is the most widely used method for air conditioning of buildings and automobiles.
The most common refrigeration cycle is the vapor compression cycle, which models systems using refrigerants that change phase. The absorption refrigeration cycle is an alternative that absorbs the refrigerant in a liquid solution rather than evaporating it. Gas refrigeration cycles include the reversed Brayton cycle and the Hampson–Linde cycle.
In thermal engineering, exergy efficiency (also known as the second-law efficiency or rational efficiency) computes the effectiveness of a system relative to its performance in reversible conditions. It is defined as the ratio of the thermal efficiency of an actual system compared to an idealized or reversible version of the system for heat ...
In the early years of the 20th century, the vapor absorption cycle using water-ammonia systems was popular and widely used, but after the development of the vapor compression cycle it lost much of its importance because of its low coefficient of performance (about one fifth of that of the vapor compression cycle). Absorption refrigerators are a ...