Paper No 156 – Load-based performance characterization of air conditioners using an emulator-type assessment technique – 14th IEA Heat Pump Conference, Chicago, USA
The operation of air conditioning installations may respond to different thermal load scenarios with variable or intermittent modulations of the compressor speed and expansion valve opening, according to the native control system. Therefore, the representativeness of the standard performance rating procedures obtained at a fixed compressor speed is limited and may be misleading for the efficient development of this technology. The emulator-type performance assessment technique was developed by combining the equipment of airenthalpy testing facilities for real-time measurement of the cooling capacity supplied by the air conditioner and a room emulator to reproducibly generate arbitrary indoor load conditions. This study demonstrates the ability of the developed assessment approach to characterize the performance of air conditioners in response to variations in the indoor air state according to the native control system. Specifically, an R32 ceiling-type commercial unit was tested under the conditions necessary for the calculation of the annual performance factor over a load range between 25 and 100% of the nominal system capacity for a 147 m3 virtual room with a total thermal capacity of 1470 kJ/K. The steady, fluctuating, and intermittent controllability of the system was captured. Finally, the efficiency of the system operating according to its native control system was compared with the results obtained according to the current standard procedure defined by the Japanese Industrial Standard at a fixed compressor speed