Low Ambient Air Source Heat Pumps Utilizing Cascade Cycles

The goal of this project was to determine if the addition of a cascade cycle to a commercial air to air source heat pump would increase the efficiency of the unit in low ambient temperatures.This project explores heat capacities and efficiencies of heat pumps as temperatures drop below 25 degrees F. The testing acquired anemometer and thermocouple readings and simulated the effects of a cascade cycle on an R-410a Trane 5 ton Precedent Heat Pump unit utilizing a scroll compressor and normal operating conditions of 45/130/15 (saturated suction temperature/ saturated discharge temperature/degrees of superheat) at 3-phase nominal voltage 208-240V. Engineering Evaluation Software (EES) was utilized to simulate the heat pump model with and without the cascade cycle