The chemical looping heat pump: Thermodynamic modeling
Abstract The need for more energy efficient heating and cooling technologies will increase over the coming decades. Climatic concerns associated with greenhouse gas emissions as well as energy costs associated with powering heating and cooling systems necessitate more efficient systems. This work presents an alternative to traditional vapor compression cycles used for heating and cooling. The chemical looping heat pump system is an indirect chemical heat pump that utilizes the possibility of condensation after a chemical reaction to allow the working fluid's compression to take place in the liquid phase. A thermodynamic model of the cycle is developed using electrochemical cells as the reaction drivers of the cycle. Sensitivity analysis is used to identify the most critical components of the system. The chemical looping heat pump may provide a potential COP increase of over 20% when compared to traditional vapor compression systems for representative device efficiencies.