Heat Pump Plumbing Best Practices, pics

buffalobillpatrick · 05-13-14, 07:28 PM

Looking for pictures of Best Practices Plumbing of Heat Pump Internals.

buffalobillpatrick · 05-23-14, 06:15 PM

Is it OK to position flat plate HX condenser flat horizontal?

jeff5may · 05-24-14, 01:12 PM

Not unless you want your hx to be full of oil.

NiHaoMike · 05-24-14, 03:16 PM

Plate exchangers should be mounted so the liquid side faces down and water (or other secondary fluid) flow is opposite refrigerant flow. The small connection is for the liquid line.

On the evaporator, the small connection is the liquid inlet. As such, the water flow should actually be opposite to what is drawn. (The drawn flows are for using it as a condenser.)

Mount all the refrigerant parts to the base plate (recommended to have it on wheels for easy movement) before you braze it together. That avoids unnecessary stress on the joints.

buffalobillpatrick · 05-24-14, 05:10 PM

Does the little Desuperheater HX need to be above the condenser & drain into top of condenser? (enclosure would be quite tall)

OR

Can Desuperheater be next to condenser & have it's output (bottom) pipe routed upward to input (top) of condenser?

NiHaoMike · 05-24-14, 05:25 PM

The desuperheater can be mounted in any position, but it doesn't hurt to keep the outlet near the bottom.

buffalobillpatrick · 05-25-14, 04:46 PM

I copied this from a place selling desuperheaters, is this true, or just sales hype?

"Due to increased condensing area now available to the refrigerant gas, the discharge pressure after the compressor gets reduced. This would result in about 5% savings of Power consumed by the compressor motors. Additionally, the liquid coming out of condenser gets sub- cooled. Every 2° C drop in the liquid temperature increases the system COP by 5 % i. e. , it reduces the power consumption relatively."

NiHaoMike · 05-25-14, 11:38 PM

It's equivalent to oversizing the condenser. When the condenser is already oversized, the power use and optimum subcooling won't change much, but the desuperheater will give you a small amount of hotter water along with a large amount of hot water, meaning better overall efficiency.

05-13-14, 07:28 PM	#1
buffalobillpatrick Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Florissant, Colorado Posts: 599 Thanks: 814 Thanked 59 Times in 55 Posts	Heat Pump Plumbing Best Practices, pics Looking for pictures of Best Practices Plumbing of Heat Pump Internals.

05-23-14, 06:15 PM	#2
buffalobillpatrick Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Florissant, Colorado Posts: 599 Thanks: 814 Thanked 59 Times in 55 Posts	Is it OK to position flat plate HX condenser flat horizontal? Attached Thumbnails

05-24-14, 01:12 PM	#3
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,428 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	Not unless you want your hx to be full of oil. Last edited by jeff5may; 05-24-14 at 01:23 PM..

05-24-14, 03:16 PM	#4
NiHaoMike Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,154 Thanks: 14 Thanked 257 Times in 241 Posts	Plate exchangers should be mounted so the liquid side faces down and water (or other secondary fluid) flow is opposite refrigerant flow. The small connection is for the liquid line. On the evaporator, the small connection is the liquid inlet. As such, the water flow should actually be opposite to what is drawn. (The drawn flows are for using it as a condenser.) Mount all the refrigerant parts to the base plate (recommended to have it on wheels for easy movement) before you braze it together. That avoids unnecessary stress on the joints. __________________ To my surprise, shortly after Naomi Wu gave me a bit of fame for making good use of solar power, Allie Moore got really jealous of her...

05-24-14, 05:25 PM	#6
NiHaoMike Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,154 Thanks: 14 Thanked 257 Times in 241 Posts	The desuperheater can be mounted in any position, but it doesn't hurt to keep the outlet near the bottom. __________________ To my surprise, shortly after Naomi Wu gave me a bit of fame for making good use of solar power, Allie Moore got really jealous of her...

05-24-14, 05:10 PM	#5
buffalobillpatrick Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Florissant, Colorado Posts: 599 Thanks: 814 Thanked 59 Times in 55 Posts	Does the little Desuperheater HX need to be above the condenser & drain into top of condenser? (enclosure would be quite tall) OR Can Desuperheater be next to condenser & have it's output (bottom) pipe routed upward to input (top) of condenser?

05-25-14, 04:46 PM	#7
buffalobillpatrick Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Florissant, Colorado Posts: 599 Thanks: 814 Thanked 59 Times in 55 Posts	I copied this from a place selling desuperheaters, is this true, or just sales hype? "Due to increased condensing area now available to the refrigerant gas, the discharge pressure after the compressor gets reduced. This would result in about 5% savings of Power consumed by the compressor motors. Additionally, the liquid coming out of condenser gets sub- cooled. Every 2° C drop in the liquid temperature increases the system COP by 5 % i. e. , it reduces the power consumption relatively."

05-25-14, 11:38 PM	#8
NiHaoMike Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,154 Thanks: 14 Thanked 257 Times in 241 Posts	It's equivalent to oversizing the condenser. When the condenser is already oversized, the power use and optimum subcooling won't change much, but the desuperheater will give you a small amount of hotter water along with a large amount of hot water, meaning better overall efficiency. __________________ To my surprise, shortly after Naomi Wu gave me a bit of fame for making good use of solar power, Allie Moore got really jealous of her...