The heat pump unit and the industrial chiller are exactly the same in principle. The heat pump is a refrigeration system that supplies heat from the condenser or other components. In principle, any cycle that can be used as a chiller can be used as a heat pump cycle, and any analysis method used for a chiller can be used to analyze the heat pump. For a combined machine that simultaneously cools and heats, it can be called a heat pump or a refrigerator. It is generally believed that there are two main differences between the two:
1. The purpose of the two is different: the energy interaction between a heat pump or an industrial chiller and the surrounding environment is to absorb heat from a low-temperature heat source and then release heat to a high-temperature heat source. Its purpose is to obtain high temperature (heating) , That is, the part that emits heat to high temperature, that is the heat pump;
If the purpose is to obtain low temperature (refrigeration), that is, to absorb heat from a low temperature heat source, then it is an industrial chiller; due to different purposes, the economic indicators of a heat pump are different from that of a chiller.
2. The working temperature zones of the two are often different: the so-called high-temperature heat source and low-temperature heat source are just relative to each other. Due to the different purposes of the two, usually heat pump water heaters use the environment as a low-temperature heat source, while chillers use the environment as a high-temperature heat source. Therefore, for the same ambient temperature, the working temperature zone of the heat pump is significantly higher than that of the industrial chiller.
