Micro Heat Pump

[gadget]

Originally Posted by jeff5may

The important thing to know here is the heat capacity of running water. 1 BTU =1 pound of water changing 1 degF. A gallon of water weighs close to 8 1/3 pounds, so the harvestable heat is 8 1/3 BTU per degF per gallon. This will tell you how much water (at the very least) you need to flow to move your heat.

The heat flow follows Fourier's law of thermal conduction. If you buy copper tubing, the manufacturer publishes tested specs for it. Do a little math and find out if you are in the ballpark as far as surface area and flow rate.

I'm not good with math but I do appreciate how it can save time.

I took some measurements off my radiator well water geoheater in the greenhouse tonight. Its been running about 2 hours.

Single wall polycarbonate 14' x 14' greenhouse
outside air is 26F
inside air is 37F

Heater output is 45F
No sure of CFM
Input air temp measured 38F
Water inlet temperature is 55F
Water outlet temperature is 46F
Flow is 1.2 GPM

So to figure BTU's per hour

60min x 1.2 GPM = 72 gallons per hour
BTU's per Gallon @ deg per gallon extracted = 9 deg x 8.3 per gallon= 74.7
BTU's per Gallon 74.7 x GPH 72 = 5378 BTUs per hour

This is equal to about 1.57 Kwatts per hour of electrical heating. I'm using .2KWH with the blower and well pump running.

So my COP for just using a radiator and fan is 7.85 ???

[jeff5may]

Sounds like a good ballpark figure to me. Also looks like you are ok with math as well. Trust me on this one: math up your sketch before you build it. Catching a conflict or shortcoming on paper saves a whole lot more than a little time and ink. It usually spells out the difference between something that lasts 5 minutes (or less) and until something unexpected or unplanned happens. With something overbuilt, it may take years for something unexpected to happen.

[jeff5may]

Any progress on the heat pump idea? With the original configuration (water cooler), if you flowed a gallon plus per minute through the original (water cooler) chilling tank, I would bet money it wouldn't freeze solid before your hot water tank got satisfied. We don't know what you're trying to heat, but even with a swimming pool heat sink, and constant source water flow, plus cap tube metering, your water jacket would still lack enough cold to choke the source water flow. Prove me wrong.

[gadget]

Originally Posted by jeff5may

Any progress on the heat pump idea? With the original configuration (water cooler), if you flowed a gallon plus per minute through the original (water cooler) chilling tank, I would bet money it wouldn't freeze solid before your hot water tank got satisfied. We don't know what you're trying to heat, but even with a swimming pool heat sink, and constant source water flow, plus cap tube metering, your water jacket would still lack enough cold to choke the source water flow. Prove me wrong.

No progress yet. I have been working on some other pressing projects. I just finished converting an unused closet in my basement into an insulated mini grow room for spring time garden plants and over wintering tropical plants. It turned out really well. I'm also experimenting with leaf/stem node propagation of potato plants. The theory is you can plant a whole acre of potatoes from 1 seed potatoes between growing seasons.

I have been using the 1,000 watt bucket heater keeping my grow beds warm and the geo/radiator is working well keeping my greenhouse temps above freezing. I did manage to cool my ground water down underneath my greenhouse after about a month of pulling heat out via the radiator/well setup. I was dumping water about 3 feet away from the well and it did lower the ground temps after a few weeks. Kinda cool to see the heat storage potential. I have since moved the water return about 30+ feet away and temps have increased from about 49F to 52F after a couple of weeks

I have a new idea that involves multiple small heat pumps that come on in stages depending on load demands, so I am holding off on this build till I know if the HX may be different to accommodate multiple heat pumps and may want to use this heat pump for more then just a test build

I hope to have updates soon.

Thanks