Development of refrigeration and heat pump systems

Despite continual development over more than two centuries there is still great scope for significant development in the realms of mechanical cooling and heating. This paper reviews the nature of the historical development and identifies key motivations for technical development. It seeks to highlig...

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Main Author: Andy Pearson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Thermal Engineering
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fther.2022.1042347/full
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author Andy Pearson
author_facet Andy Pearson
author_sort Andy Pearson
collection DOAJ
description Despite continual development over more than two centuries there is still great scope for significant development in the realms of mechanical cooling and heating. This paper reviews the nature of the historical development and identifies key motivations for technical development. It seeks to highlight where there is greatest need for future development in this ubiquitous technology. The story of the development of mechanical refrigeration is dominated by the choices made with regard to the working fluid used in the system. These choices dictate the operating parameters of temperature and pressure that the system must withstand as well as introducing constraints related to material compatibility, so the agenda for the mechanical development of systems is set by the selection of the refrigerant. All of these systems are classed as heat pumps because they extract heat from one location and deliver it to another. The commercial demand for mechanical cooling in the 19th century meant that all of these early heat pump systems were used for cooling. The concept of using the same cycle to deliver useful heat was not commercialised until the mid-twentieth century and in some ways this application of the heat pump is still in the early stages of development, particularly with regard to market penetration.
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spelling doaj-art-e65662c2e4db4c7ab728b72b4aad7fae2025-08-20T02:14:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Thermal Engineering2813-04562022-10-01210.3389/fther.2022.10423471042347Development of refrigeration and heat pump systemsAndy PearsonDespite continual development over more than two centuries there is still great scope for significant development in the realms of mechanical cooling and heating. This paper reviews the nature of the historical development and identifies key motivations for technical development. It seeks to highlight where there is greatest need for future development in this ubiquitous technology. The story of the development of mechanical refrigeration is dominated by the choices made with regard to the working fluid used in the system. These choices dictate the operating parameters of temperature and pressure that the system must withstand as well as introducing constraints related to material compatibility, so the agenda for the mechanical development of systems is set by the selection of the refrigerant. All of these systems are classed as heat pumps because they extract heat from one location and deliver it to another. The commercial demand for mechanical cooling in the 19th century meant that all of these early heat pump systems were used for cooling. The concept of using the same cycle to deliver useful heat was not commercialised until the mid-twentieth century and in some ways this application of the heat pump is still in the early stages of development, particularly with regard to market penetration.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fther.2022.1042347/fullrefrigerationheat pumphistoryefficiencysafetyreliability
spellingShingle Andy Pearson
Development of refrigeration and heat pump systems
Frontiers in Thermal Engineering
refrigeration
heat pump
history
efficiency
safety
reliability
title Development of refrigeration and heat pump systems
title_full Development of refrigeration and heat pump systems
title_fullStr Development of refrigeration and heat pump systems
title_full_unstemmed Development of refrigeration and heat pump systems
title_short Development of refrigeration and heat pump systems
title_sort development of refrigeration and heat pump systems
topic refrigeration
heat pump
history
efficiency
safety
reliability
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fther.2022.1042347/full
work_keys_str_mv AT andypearson developmentofrefrigerationandheatpumpsystems