Experimental analysis of direct-expansion ground-coupled heat pump systems

Direct-expansion ground-coil-coupled (DXGC) heat pump systems have certain energy efficiency advantages over conventional ground-coupled heat pump (GCHP) systems. Principal among these advantages are that the secondary heat transfer fluid heat exchanger and circulating pump are eliminated. While the DXGC concept can produce higher efficiencies, it also produces more system design and environmental problems (e.g., compressor starting, oil return, possible ground pollution, and more refrigerant charging). Furthermore, general design guidelines for DXGC systems are not well documented. A two-pronged approach was adopted for this study: (1) a literature survey, and (2) a laboratory study of a DXGC heat pump system with R-22 as the refrigerant, for both heating and cooling mode tests done in parallel and series tube connections. The results of each task are described in this paper. A set of general design guidelines was derived from the test results and is also presented. 12 refs., 11 figs., 1 tab

Ammonia usage in vapor compression for refrigeration and air-conditioning in the United States

The impending phaseout of CFCs and HCFCs has led to a worldwide search for refrigerants that can provide equivalent performance while not damaging the environment. Long used as a working fluid in industrial and large-scale refrigeration, ammonia provides high efficiency, low initial cost, and no detrimental impact to the environment. However, its toxicity and flammability, along with technical considerations and increased operating costs, deter its use in many refrigeration and cooling applications. Utilization of ammonia in applications where its safety considerations and technical concerns can be addressed provides the best growth opportunity for adoption as a replacement refrigerant. Applications such as district or large-scale cooling, thermal storage, packaged systems, and combined systems hold promise for increased usage of ammonia. Ongoing research and development are providing solutions to technical considerations, and innovations in safety and containment of ammonia are addressing those particular concerns, but code restrictions and regulations present the greatest barrier to wider adoption of ammonia as an alternate refrigerant in the US To encourage wider use, future efforts will need to continue on improved safety and more efficient design, along with an increased emphasis on educating and informing industry and the public about the advantages ammonia and the factors restricting its use

Energy and global warming impacts of HFC refrigerants and emerging technologies: TEWI-III

The use of hydrofluorocarbons (BFCs) which were developed as alternative refrigerants and insulating foam blowing agents to replace chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) is now being affected by scientific investigations of greenhouse warming and questions about the effects of refrigerants and blowing agents on global warming. A Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) assessment analyzes the environmental affects of these halogenated working fluids in energy consuming applications by combining a direct effect resulting from the inadvertent release of HFCs to the atmosphere with an indirect effect resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels needed to provide the energy to operate equipment using these compounds as working fluids. TEWI is a more balanced measure of environmental impact because it is not based solely on the global warming potential (GWP) of the working fluid. It also shows the environmental benefit of efficient technologies that result in less CO{sub 2} generation and eventual emission to the earth`s atmosphere. The goal of TEWI is to assess total global warming impact of all the gases released to the atmosphere, including CO{sub 2} emissions from energy conversion. Alternative chemicals and technologies have been proposed as substitutes for HFCs in the vapor-compression cycle for refrigeration and air conditioning and for polymer foams in appliance and building insulations which claim substantial environmental benefits. Among these alternatives are: (1) Hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants and blowing agents which have zero ozone depleting potential and a negligible global warming potential, (2) CO{sub 2} as a refrigerant and blowing agent, (3) Ammonia (NH{sub 3}) vapor compression systems, (4) Absorption chiller and heat pumping cycles using ammonia/water or lithium bromide/water, and (5) Evacuated panel insulations. This paper summarizes major results and conclusions of the detailed final report on the TEWI-111 study

Opinion dynamics: models, extensions and external effects

Recently, social phenomena have received a lot of attention not only from social scientists, but also from physicists, mathematicians and computer scientists, in the emerging interdisciplinary field of complex system science. Opinion dynamics is one of the processes studied, since opinions are the drivers of human behaviour, and play a crucial role in many global challenges that our complex world and societies are facing: global financial crises, global pandemics, growth of cities, urbanisation and migration patterns, and last but not least important, climate change and environmental sustainability and protection. Opinion formation is a complex process affected by the interplay of different elements, including the individual predisposition, the influence of positive and negative peer interaction (social networks playing a crucial role in this respect), the information each individual is exposed to, and many others. Several models inspired from those in use in physics have been developed to encompass many of these elements, and to allow for the identification of the mechanisms involved in the opinion formation process and the understanding of their role, with the practical aim of simulating opinion formation and spreading under various conditions. These modelling schemes range from binary simple models such as the voter model, to multi-dimensional continuous approaches. Here, we provide a review of recent methods, focusing on models employing both peer interaction and external information, and emphasising the role that less studied mechanisms, such as disagreement, has in driving the opinion dynamics. [...]Comment: 42 pages, 6 figure

Measurement of prompt D0^{0} and D‾\overline{D}0^{0} meson azimuthal anisotropy and search for strong electric fields in PbPb collisions at root SNN\sqrt{S_{NN}} = 5.02 TeV

The strong Coulomb field created in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions is expected to produce a rapiditydependent difference (Av2) in the second Fourier coefficient of the azimuthal distribution (elliptic flow, v2) between D0 (uc) and D0 (uc) mesons. Motivated by the search for evidence of this field, the CMS detector at the LHC is used to perform the first measurement of Av2. The rapidity-averaged value is found to be (Av2) = 0.001 ? 0.001 (stat)? 0.003 (syst) in PbPb collisions at ?sNN = 5.02 TeV. In addition, the influence of the collision geometry is explored by measuring the D0 and D0mesons v2 and triangular flow coefficient (v3) as functions of rapidity, transverse momentum (pT), and event centrality (a measure of the overlap of the two Pb nuclei). A clear centrality dependence of prompt D0 meson v2 values is observed, while the v3 is largely independent of centrality. These trends are consistent with expectations of flow driven by the initial-state geometry. ? 2021 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY licens

Observation of electroweak production of Wγ with two jets in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

A first observation is presented for the electroweak production of a W boson, a photon, and two jets in proton-proton collisions. The W boson decays are selected by requiring one identified electron or muon and an imbalance in transverse momentum. The two jets are required to have a high dijet mass and a large separation in pseudorapidity. The measurement is based on data collected with the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The observed (expected) significance for this process is 4.9 (4.6) standard deviations. After combining with previously reported CMS results at 8 TeV, the observed (expected) significance is 5.3 (4.8) standard deviations. The cross section for the electroweak W$_{γjj}$ production in a restricted fiducial region is measured as 20.4 +/- 4.5 fb and the total cross section for W$_{γ}$ production in association with 2 jets in the same fiducial region is 108 +/- 16 fb. All results are in good agreement with recent theoretical predictions. Constraints are placed on anomalous quartic gauge couplings in terms of dimension-8 effective field theory operators

Measurements of production cross sections of polarized same-sign W boson pairs in association with two jets in proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV

The first measurements of production cross sections of polarized same-sign W±W±boson pairs in proton-proton collisions are reported. The measurements are based on a data sample collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137fb−1. Events are selected by requiring exactly two same-sign leptons, electrons or muons, moderate missing transverse momentum, and two jets with a large rapidity separation and a large dijet mass to enhance the contribution of same-sign W±W±scattering events. An observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit of 1.17 (0.88)fbis set on the production cross section for longitudinally polarized same-sign W±W±boson pairs. The electroweak production of same-sign W±W±boson pairs with at least one of the Wbosons longitudinally polarized is measured with an observed (expected) significance of 2.3 (3.1) standard deviations.SCOAP

Intermediate report on the performance of plate-type ice-maker heat pumps

A prototype ice-maker heat pump obtained from Remcor Products Company and a two-plate unit developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory were tested under the Annual Cycle Energy System program. Results were compared for the effect of harvesting scheme and evaporator plate loading on performance in both water-chilling and ice-making modes. The Remcor scheme of using compressor discharge gas for harvesting exacts a heavy penalty on performance during short freeze cycles, whereas the two-plate unit utilizing a no-penalty harvest scheme experiences no such penalty. However, the lower plate loading of the Remcor gives it a performance advantage over the two-plate unit in water chilling and allows it to operate on a longer freezing cycle before suffering performance penalties due to ice buildup. This latter effect allows the Remcor to overcome its harvest penalty and to achieve a slightly higher maximum coefficient of performance in the ice-making mode than does the two-plate unit. Accordingly, it is concluded that a combination of no-penalty harvest and low plate loading should provide a more optimum performance level for ice-maker heat pumps. Cyclic operation, typical of domestic space conditioning operation, of the two-plate unit revealed significant performance loss due to interrupted compressor operation. The possibility of improving operation and reliability by combining thermostatic cycles with harvesting cycles is discussed and a possible scheme presented