Air-to-air heat pump: review of recent advances and future potential

Abstract

As the demand for energy is increasing and due to more focus on the utilization of low impact energy heat sources, heat pumps are a renewable energy technology that transfers thermal energy from one place to another. Heat pumps are used in various applications such as space heating, space cooling, heating water and many others. Heat pumps have many configurations but in essence they compose of components which are found in all units. The framework for 2030 climate and energy policy has decided that greenhouse emissions must be reduced by 40%. This has therefore, increased the need to utilize low grade energy. Heat pumps have the capability to utilize the upgrade of low grade energy and reuse it within any domestic and industrial application. This paper will explain the working principle of an air-to-air heat pump, describing the different configurations, and evaluate the performance of such systems.