Energy performance enhancement in air-source heat pump with a direct evaporative cooler-applied condenser

The energy consumption of the air-source heat pump operated in cooling mode is affected by the outdoor air condition in summer. It is important to not only install the evaporative cooler in front of the condenser inlet side but also consider the operation strategy of the evaporative cooler under the hot and humid condition. In this study, the energy saving potential of the air-source heat pump with an evaporative cooler was analyzed according to the operation strategy. A three-story office building measuring 100 m(2), using an enthalpy recovery ventilator, was used as a model building conditioned by the proposed system for detailed energy simulation. The building thermal load and energy consumption were estimated using simulation tools. The results show that the proposed system reduces 8.87% of energy consumption compared with the conventional air-source heat pump when the evaporative cooler operated under the 72% of relative humidity condition.