Paper No 335 – An Assessment of Gas Absorption Heat Pump Integration Strategies with Combination and Commercial Space Conditioning Systems – 14th IEA Heat Pump Conference, Chicago, USA
Gas absorption heat pumps (GHP) are an emerging class of high efficiency heating equipment that upgrade low-quality ambient heat via an ammonia-water absorption process. This technology can reduce fuel consumption of space heating systems served by furnaces or boilers by 35%-55%, with rated seasonal heating efficiencies of 140% AFUE or greater, based on the application and climate region. GHPs are commercially available, but the commercial space conditioning market adoption is low due to the upfront investments and a lack of installation and maintenance experience. Drawing from multiple case studies, the authors explored the implementation of heat pumps in cold climates for water heating and / or hydronic space conditioning applications. This paper summarizes important design considerations, installation best practices, controls, commissioning and lessons learned from successfully integrating GHPs into hot water plants, often with existing equipment to boost overall plant efficiencies.