Journal Pre-proof

Thermodynamic analysis of cascade high-temperature heat pump

using new natural zeotropic refrigerant mixtures: R744/R600 and
R744/R601

P. Ganesan , Trygve M. Eikevik , Khalid Hamid , Ruzhu Wang ,

Hongzhi Yan

PII: S0140-7007(23)00143-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2023.05.017
Reference: JIJR 5870

To appear in: International Journal of Refrigeration

Received date: 2 February 2023

Revised date: 15 May 2023
Accepted date: 22 May 2023

Please cite this article as: P. Ganesan , Trygve M. Eikevik , Khalid Hamid , Ruzhu Wang ,
Hongzhi Yan , Thermodynamic analysis of cascade high-temperature heat pump using new natu-
ral zeotropic refrigerant mixtures: R744/R600 and R744/R601, International Journal of Refrigeration
(2023), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2023.05.017

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Analyse thermodynamique d'une pompe à chaleur
haute température en cascade utilisant de
nouveaux mélanges de fluides frigorigènes
naturels zéotropiques : R744/R600 et R744/R601

Mots clés : Système en cascade, Pompe à chaleur

haute température, Réfrigérants naturels,
Mélanges zéotropiques, MATLAB
Thermodynamic analysis of cascade high-temperature heat pump using new natural
zeotropic refrigerant mixtures: R744/R600 and R744/R601
a* a a b b
P. Ganesan , Trygve M. Eikevik , Khalid Hamid , Ruzhu Wang , Hongzhi Yan
a
Process and Power Research Group, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian
University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
b
Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics & Engineering Research Center of Solar Power &
Refrigeration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Highlights
 Cascade high-temperature heat pump was modeled and simulated using MATLAB.

 New zeotropic refrigerant mixtures of R744, R600 and R601 were introduced.

 The system was designed to produce hot water above 100°C.

 The system was proved to be suitable for high-temperature heating with a COP of 4.5.

 Substantial improvement was noted compared to published results.

1
Abstract

Many Industrial applications demand clean, high-temperature heating to meet their

requirements. High coefficient of performance (COP) and low-pressure ratios are the keys to the

development of cascade heat pump systems. The present work investigates the high-temperature heat

pump (HTHP) using a two-stage cascade refrigeration system to produce hot water of more than 100

°C and up to 118°C. MATLAB was used to design and simulate the HTHP model. The results of the

simulation were analyzed to explore the production of high-temperature water. The composition of

mixed natural zeotropic refrigerants, such as CO2+butane and CO2+pentane mixtures were introduced

in the Low-stage (LS) and High-stage (HS) cycle, respectively. Water was used as the secondary

fluid and as a heat source with a temperature range of 10-50 °C. The temperature lift, heating

capacity, heat sink, hot water delivery temperatures, HS, LS, and total COP, were investigated to

identify the performance of the system and expounded in detail. The maximum heating capacity of the

system can reach 205 kW. The system's total COP was 4.5, one of the top-notch results in this HTHP

research. Overall, the system's use of natural refrigerants, highly efficient performance, and high-

temperature water heating abilities make the investigation of high importance. A comparison of the

present and published results indicates a substantial improvement of 36% of the total COP. The

pressure levels in both LS and HS indicate that the system pressure requirements are in good

agreement to operate the system effectively with excellent performance.

Keywords: Cascade system, High-temperature heat pump, Natural refrigerants, Zeotropic mixtures,
MATLAB

*Corresponding author: P.Ganesan, Process, and Power Research Group, Department of Energy and Process Engineering,

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway; email address:

pganesanmech@gmail.com; Tel:+91999452171

Nomenclature

COP Coefficient of performance h Enthalpy (kJ/kg)

COPTotal Total Coefficient of performance h11 Enthalpy at the outlet of the HS condenser

Cp Specific heat capacity (kJ/kgk) h12 Enthalpy at the inlet of the HS evaporator

2
h2 Enthalpy at the inlet of the LS compressor PLSC Pressure at the low-stage condenser (kPa)

h3 Enthalpy at the outlet of the LS compressor PR Pressure ratio

h5 Enthalpy at the outlet of the LS condenser Q Heating/cooling capacity (kW)

h6 Enthalpy at the inlet of the LS evaporator QC Heating capacity (kW)

h8 Enthalpy at the inlet of the HS compressor Qe Cooling capacity (kW)

h9 Enthalpy at the outlet of the HS compressor Tcr Critical temperature (°C)

HS High-stage Thw,in Hot water inlet temperature (°C)

LS Low-stage Thw,out Hot water outlet temperature (°C)

ṁ Mass flow (kg/s) Tsource,in Heat source inlet temperature (°C)

Ƞvol Volumetric efficiency of the compressor Tsource,out Heat source outlet temperature (°C)
(%)
Vs Stroke volume of the compressor (m3/s)
PC Condenser pressure (heat sink) (kPa)
W Power consumption of compressor (kW)
Pcr Critical pressure (kPa)
WTotal Total Power consumption of compressors
Pe Evaporation pressure (kPa) (kW)

PHSE Pressure at high-stage evaporator (kPa) ρ Density of refrigerant at the compressor

suction (kg/m3)

Highlights
 Cascade high-temperature heat pump was modeled and simulated using MATLAB.

 New zeotropic refrigerant mixtures of R744, R600 and R601 were introduced.

 The system was designed to produce hot water above 100°C.

 The system was proved to be suitable for high-temperature heating with a COP of 4.5.

 Substantial improvement was noted compared to published results.

3
 1. Introduction

The heat pump (HP) is one of the highly successful technologies to convert electrical energy

into heat. Massive demand exists for high-temperature heating to convert from low-graded heat

energies. Many industrial processes need high-temperature water for process heating. The high-

temperature heat pump (HTHP) is one of the economically affordable solutions because of its high

energy conversion efficiency and low operating cost.

Heat pumps such as single-stage, cascade, multi-stage, and parallel heat pumps have been

used to meet heating purposes. Cascaded heat pumps are suitable for high-temperature elevations and

can handle the pressure ratio well in both stages of the system (Yan H.Z., et al. 2021).

4
 Wang et al., have reported that the performance characteristics of the cascade system were

much improved than a single-stage HP (W.Wang, et al. 2005). The vapor compression heat pumps

with output temperatures above 100°C are considered high-temperature heat pumps (Cordin

Arpagaus, et al. 2016) (Damien Bobelin og Ali Bourig 2012). Due to their superiority in energy-

saving and environmental friendliness, High-temperature cascade heat pumps have remarkable

development potential in the industrial heat generation sector (Khalid Hamid 2023) (Huiming Zou, et

al. 2020) (Shengming Dong, et al. 2022) (Yan HZ 2021). The performance characteristics of a

cascade system were investigated with R134a and carbon dioxide (CO2) as the working fluids in the

low-stage (LS) and high-stage (HS) of the system, respectively. The system’s heating capacity, water

supply temperature, and coefficient of performance (COP) were evaluated under a range of working

conditions. The COP indicated that the cascade system performed better under low ambient

temperatures and hot water supply temperatures (Song, et al. 2017).

CO2 blends with R41 and R32 refrigerants were investigated for water heating using HP.

Various factors affected the COP of the HP, including discharge pressure, hot-water outlet

temperature, and chilled water inlet temperature. It was found that zeotropic mixtures exhibit good

thermal matching with water temperature changes due to their temperature glide. The study resulted in

increased COP and low discharge pressure making it suitable for the intended purpose (Baomin Dai,

et al. 2015). HTHP using the different configurations was theoretically investigated for delivering the

heating temperature above 110 °C with different temperature lifts. It was concluded that a two-stage

system provided a higher temperature lift than a single-stage system (Carlos Mateu-Royo, et al. 2018).

Performance analysis on HTHP was carried out using the binary mixtures-based R245fa for high-

temperature application. Different factors such as heat capacity, COP, temperature lift, and the heating

temperature were analyzed. The study reported that the system was able to deliver the heating

temperature between 80-100°C with a temperature lift of 35°C. The COP of the system was up to 4.9

due to the low power consumption of the compressor (Xu, et al. 2021).

Blends of CO2 and hydrocarbon were used in a cascade refrigeration cycle to investigate the

performance. Simulations of cascade cycles were performed using ammonia as the working fluid in

5
the HS and the CO2-based blends in the LS cycle. It was included that the CO2-based blends exhibit

more attractive properties than those of pure fluids (Giovanni Di Nicola, et al. 2011). An experimental

investigation was conducted using a cascade heat pump prototype with refrigerants R245fa and

R410A. The cascade heat pump could supply 140°C of space heating, and its COP ranged from 1.16

to 1.58 at temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 °C (Huiming Zou, et al. 2020).

An HTHP with two parallel compressors was modeled and simulated using MATLAB. Low

global warming potential ammonia was used as the working fluid. The system was able to deliver a

temperature of up to 96°C with a temperature lift of 72°C. the COP of the system was 3.55 (Ganesan

P, et al. 2022). A two-stage cascade HTHP system for producing high-temperature water above 100°C

was analyzed experimentally. A heat source (water) temperature of 25 to 35°C was considered as the

input for the system and several novel mixtures were considered as the working fluids. It was reported

that the discharge temperature, system’s COP, and heating capacity were in good agreement with the

semi-empirical model. Up to a 14% increase in COP was observed when using R-152a/600

(0.08/0.92) and R-1233zd(E)/161 (0.88/0.12) for the low stage and high stage, respectively. The

heating capacity increased by 30% (Joaquín Navarro-Esbrí, et al. 2022). An experimental study

investigated the energy performance of a cascade HTHP in a cold region. The possibilities of

different hot water temperatures were revealed. Reported that the system was energy efficient with a

hot water high supply temperature in low ambient temperature conditions. The system was able to lift

the temperature to 75°C from a low ambient temperature of -21°C (Liangfeng Xu, et al. 2020).

A cascade HTHP system consisting of two vapor compression cycles was evaluated for three

different mixed refrigerants: R744/R1270, R744/R717, and R744/RE170. The mixture composition

and condensation temperature were used as inputs, and outputs included compressor power,

refrigerant mass flow rate for both cycles, energy efficiency, and COP. The COP has increased from

18 to 32% compared to pure refrigerants. R744/RE170 mixture produced the best outcomes with a

COP of 2.34 and a reduced compressor power consumption between 20 to 23%. The mass flow

reduction was between 6 to 34% (Luiz Henrique Parolin Massuchetto, et al. 2019). Cascade HP used

for high-temperature heating was examined thermodynamically. The HP was designed to use a heat

6
source temperature of -20°C with a projected heating capacity of 100kW. The effect of different

combinations of working fluids was investigated. For the best combination of the working fluid,

parameters such as exergy efficiency, and COP were analyzed as a function of mean temperature. A

temperature lift of 90°C was observed in the system (Nedžad Rudonja, et al. 2020).

A cascade HP was designed to provide space heating and hot water simultaneously. During

the winter season, the system was investigated based on the secondary fluid temperature. Reported

that the cascade HP has the potential to provide higher energy efficiency at higher hot water and

heating loads. The system provided a much more stable water supply under varying outdoor

conditions (Samuel Boahen, et al. 2021). An investigation was conducted in an HP using

CO2/Propane as the working fluid. This mixture was found to be suitable for improved

thermodynamic performance and to weaken the flammability of Propane. The study has proved that

the usage of mixtures reduced the heat rejection pressures with improved system performance

(Xianping Zhang, et al. 2016).

A water source HTHP was designed, developed, and tested experimentally to provide hot

water at a temperature of up to 170°C. A cascade refrigeration system was used with six different

pairs of refrigerants. The investigation aimed to select the best pair of refrigerants among the

considered. A comparison of BY3A/R245fa, BY3B/R245fa, and BY3B/BY6 was conducted in an

experimental setup with heating temperatures between 100 and 140 °C. In the theoretical studies,

BY3B/BY6 was selected as the best refrigerant, while the experimental results indicated BY3B/BY6

being more effective. In comparison to other heat pump systems, the system's coefficient of

performance (COP) was the highest, and its maximum temperature lift reached 113.4 °C. There was

good agreement between experimental values for heating capacity, input power, COP, and discharge

pressure (Xiaoqiong Li, et al. 2019).

There was an investigation into the development of a cascade HTHP that uses the near-

zeotropic BY-3 and R245fa refrigerant mixtures as the working fluid in an LS and HS cycle,

respectively. Experimental work was conducted to investigate how well HTHP performs at

evaporating temperatures ranging between 40°C and 60°C and at 142°C at the condensing unit of the

7
HS cycle with a COP of 1.72. The study proved that BY3 was a good working fluid for the LS cycle.

Experimental and simulation results indicate that these pairs of mixtures were working well in terms

of COP, temperature lift, and heating temperature (Xuelian Ma, Yufeng Zhang og Lei Fang, et al.

2018).

Xuelian Ma et al., have suggested the development of a water source HTHP for providing hot

water for up to 142°C with a temperature lift of 90°C. BY-3(A&B) was used in the HS cycle, and

R245fa was used in the LS cycle. There were various conditions under which the experimental test

was conducted for low-temperature heat sources, varying heating capacities, and varying temperatures

of water outlets. The system’s total COP was 1.67 (Xuelian Ma, Yufeng Zhang og Xiaoqiong Li, et al.

2018). A cascade HTHP was developed to recover the waste heat from a chemical plant. The energy

and exergy models were developed and simulated for different heat source temperatures from 55 to

85°C. Simulation results indicate that the stability and feasibility of the HTHP were good under

different operating conditions. A condensing temperature of up to 145°C was reachable with a heating

capacity of the system was 498.9 kW (Zhangxiang Wu, et al. 2021).

In research of cascade HPs, studies focusing on either high-temperature water heating or high

COP, have generally been studied, while studies on high water outlet temperatures together with high-

level COP optimization have received less attention. Moreover, in this work, natural refrigerants were

used to form the zeotropic mixtures. A natural zeotropic mixture exhibits excellent thermodynamic

performance, in comparison with a pure fluid, when it comes to heat source matching, environmental

security, and thermodynamic performance. There is a lack of concise information about heat pump

systems using natural zeotropic mixtures as compared to pure fluids. HTHP with two-stage cascade

refrigeration systems were modeled and analyzed in this study for delivering hot water above 100°C.

A MATLAB model was developed for the Cascade HTHP. This study was unique in using natural

zeotropic mixtures in both the LS and HS cycles of the cascade system, a characteristic rarely seen in

the literature to the author's knowledge. Refrigerants used in the system's LS and HS cycles included

CO2/butane and CO2/pentane mixtures. The present investigation aimed to elevate a system's COP as

well as its operation at high temperatures. In addition, the results of the present work were compared

8
with the published work that employed butane and pentane pure fluids as refrigerants in the LS and

HS of the system.

2. System and Method

The following are presented in this section: Section 2.1: Contains information about the HP

system used for the model simulation and analysis; Section 2.2: Deals with the selection of

refrigerants; Section 2.3: Elaborates on the working conditions of the system; Section 2.4: Specifies

the list of equations used for modeling; Section 2.5: Explains the procedural steps involved in the flow

of the algorithm.

2.1 System description

A two-stage cascade vapor compression refrigeration system was selected for the high-

temperature operation. The representation of the cascade HTHP is presented in Figure 1 and the

corresponding pressure-enthalpy and temperature-entropy diagrams are illustrated in Figure 2. The

design aimed to deliver hot water at a temperature above 100°C. The cascade system was formed by

combining two single stage vapor compression cycles. The Cascade heat exchanger includes the LS

condenser and HS evaporator. LS heat exchanger incorporates a heat source circuit and LS evaporator

whereas the HS heat exchanger consists of a hot water circuit and the HS condenser (heat sink). All

three heat exchangers are of counterflow types. Compared to a single-stage system, the cascade

system is capable of handling pressure well as it is divided into two stages. Hence, the system

performs under steady-state conditions. The level of pressure ratio is maintained low in this system

whereas it is not the case in a single-stage system. The capability of generating a considerable

temperature boost is also one of the important reasons for the selection of this system. To the author’s

best knowledge, the selected system would serve the intended purpose as this study focuses on both

performance improvement and high-temperature heating.

9
Fig. 1 Representation of the Cascade High-Temperature Heat Pump

10
 Fig. 2 Pressure-Enthalpy and Temperature-Entropy illustration

2.2 Screening of Refrigerants

The refrigerant choice is an integral part of the HTHP's performance, reliability, and security.

It is highly essential to select the right refrigerants that are suitable for high temperature operations of

the heat pump. Potential refrigerants were screened for suitability. REFPROP was used to examine

the thermos-physical properties of refrigerants (E. B. I. H. M. Lemmon og M. McLinden 2018).

Considering the limited availability of natural refrigerants, natural refrigerant mixtures were included

in the screening process. A key property of refrigerant mixtures is temperature glide. There is a

difference between the dew point and boiling point temperature, called temperature glide. These

refrigerant mixtures are called zeotropic mixtures. It is no longer isothermal for condensation and

evaporation to occur here. Refrigerants such as carbon dioxide have become increasingly popular in

recent years. Due to their high critical temperatures, butane and pentane refrigerants were also found

to be suitable for high-temperature applications. Therefore, it was decided to combine these

refrigerants and form mixtures for the operation of the HTHP. An LS of the system would be

constructed using CO2 and butane, whereas an HS would be constructed using CO2 and pentane. The

curves of the boiling point and dew point temperatures of the proposed mixture are presented in

11
Figure 3. Carbon dioxide/pentane reaches saturation temperature at a higher level than carbon dioxide

/butane. The graph of the temperature glide of the mixtures concerning the different CO2 mass

fractions is presented in figure 4. The temperature glide increases for the increase in CO2 mass

fraction from 0.01% up to 30% and then it starts to decrease as the CO2 mass fraction increases from

31% to 100%. By the end, the glide reaches zero when the CO2 reaches 100 percent. The level of

critical temperatures of both considered mixtures is presented in figure 5. As the mass fraction of CO 2

increases, the critical temperature decreases for both mixtures. These Zeotropic mixtures proved to be

suitable for this study due to their low-temperature glide and high critical temperature. Mixtures with

low-temperature glides and high critical temperatures were the interest of this study to balance both

the performance of the system and the high-temperature heating. The simulation was conducted using

four different mass fractions in the LS and HS of the system as indicated in Table 1.

200

CO2-Butane
CO2-Penatne
150
Saturation Temperature °C

100

Dew Point Lines

50

Boiling Point Lines

-50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
CO2 Mass fraction %

Fig. 3 Boiling point and Dew point temperatures of the zeotropic mixtures

12
 140

120 CO2-Butane
CO2-Pentane

100
Temperature Glide °C

80

60

40

20

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
CO2 Mass Fraction %

Fig. 4 Temperature glide of the zeotropic mixtures

220

200

180
CO2-Butane
160 CO2-Pentane
Critical Temperature °C

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
CO2 Mass Fraction %

Fig. 5 Critical temperature of the zeotropic mixtures

13
 Table 1 Refrigerant mixtures under consideration

Refrigerant Low-stage cycle High-stage cycle

mixture
composition (CO2 (R744)+Butane(R600)) (CO2 (R744)+ Pentane (R601))

1 2% + 98% 2% + 98%

2 4% + 96% 4% + 96%

3 6% + 94% 6% + 94%

4 8% + 92% 8% + 92%

2.3 Operating conditions

When it comes to specific heat pump applications, the heat source and sink temperatures are

crucial. A heat source is one of the input parameters that affect the performance of the system. The

HTHP was operated at a heat supply inlet temperature between 10 - 50°C. Water was used as the

secondary fluid to be a heat source for the evaporator. The expected heat sink temperature was above

100 °C. The system was designed to produce a maximum temperature lift of 68°C with a hot water

outlet temperature above 100 °C. The inlet temperature of cold water entering the HS heat exchanger

was considered in the range of 37-71 °C. The system was designed to operate with subcooling and

superheating at both stages. The particulars of the simulation model are presented in Table 2. The

assumptions (Baomin Dai, et al. 2015) (Carlos Mateu-Royo, et al. 2018) made for developing and

analyzing the model are as follows:

 In a cascade heat exchanger, the condenser and evaporator exchange the same amount

of heat.

 Evaporator outlet contains dry saturated refrigerant.

 Condenser outlet contains wet saturated refrigerant.

 Expansion takes place as the Isenthalpic process.

 The pressure drops were ignored, and the heat losses were neglected.

14
  The heat exchangers are counterflow type.

Table 2. Working conditions of the HTHP

Description Value

Heat source inlet temperature 10 - 50°C

The temperature of the sink (HS condenser) up to 152°C

The outlet temperatures of hot water >100°C up to 118°C

Degree of subcooling 5°C

Degree of superheating 5°C

Temperature lift 60 -70°C

Hot water inlet at the HS heat exchanger 37 - 71°C

2.4 Equations for System Modelling

A nomenclature table is included to refer to the meaning of the parameters and symbols used

in the equations below. The mass flow rate (ṁ) of the LS and HS was calculated using Equation 1;

power consumption of the LS (WLS) and HS compressors WHS was calculated using Eqn. 2 and 3

respectively; and total power consumption (WTotal) using Eqn. 4:

Mass flow rate (ṁ) = ρ × Ƞvol × (Vs / 3600) (1)

Power consumed by the LS compressor (WLS)= ṁLS × (h3 - h2) (2)

Power consumed by the HS compressor (WHS) = ṁHS × (h9 – h8) (3)

Total Power consumed by the system (WTotal) = WLS + WHS (4)

Where ρ = density of the refrigerant; Ƞvol = volumetric efficiency of the compressor (ratio between the

amount of refrigerant at the suction and discharge); Vs = stroke volume of the compressor (size of the

compressor); ṁLS = refrigerant mass flow of LS; ṁHS = HS refrigerant mass flow; h3 = enthalpy at the

outlet of the LS compressor; h2 = enthalpy at the inlet of the LS compressor; h9 = enthalpy at the

outlet of the HS compressor; h8 = enthalpy at the inlet of the HS compressor.

15
The following equations (5-7) were used to compute the heating capacity of the cascade heat

exchanger, the heating capacity of the HS condenser (QC) the cooling capacity (Qe) of the system,

respectively.

Heating capacities of cascade heat exchanger (QHS = QLS)

= ṁHS × (h8 – h12) = ṁLS × (h3 - h5) (5)

Heat capacity of HS condenser (QC)= (h9 - h11) × ṁHS (6)

Cooling capacity (Qe) = (h2 – h6) × ṁLS (7)

Where h12 = enthalpy at the inlet of the HS evaporator; h5 = enthalpy at the outlet of the LS condenser;

h11 = enthalpy at the outlet of the HS condenser; h6 = enthalpy at the inlet of the LS evaporator.

The hot water outlet temperature (Thw,out) and the heat source outlet (Tsource,out) temperature were

estimated using the equation (8-9) below:

Outlet temperature of hot water (Thw,out) = (Qc / Cp hw × mhw) + Thw,in (8)

Outlet temperature of source (Tsource,out) = (Qc / Cp × mw) + Tsource,in (9)

Where, Cp = specific heat capacity; Thw,in = temperature of the hot water inlet; Tsource,in = temperature of

the heat source at inlet. The COP of LS and HS and the total system were calculated using the

equations 10-12 respectively.

Coefficient of performance of the LS cycle (COPLS)= QLS / WLS (10)

Coefficient of performance of the HS cycle (COPHS)= QC / WHS (11)

Coefficient of performance of the system (COPTotal) = QC / WTotal (12)

The LS and HS pressure ratios were calculated using the equation 13-14 listed below:

LS pressure ratio (PRLS)=PLSC / Pe (13)

HS pressure ratio PRHS=PC / PHSE (14)

16
Where, PLSC = Pressure at LS condenser; Pe= LS evaporator pressure; PC = pressure at HS condenser;

PHSE = HS evaporator pressure.

2.5 Algorithm Flowchart

MATLAB (MATLAB. Version 2021) was used as the platform to model and simulate the

cascade HTHP. The flow sequence of the algorithm used is presented in Figure 6. The sequence starts

with the guess of various initial temperature values such as the evaporator, condenser, superheating,

and subcooling temperatures. The range of heat source temperature was specified to the system. The

model starts to compute the required temperatures at various points of the system. MATLAB was

linked to the REFPROP software. It enables the algorithm to obtain the properties such as pressure,

temperatures, etc., of the refrigerant mixtures directly from the REFPROP. The values of the

logarithmic mean temperature difference (LMTD) of all three heat exchangers such as the evaporator,

cascade, and heat sink were computed and analyzed to ensure that these values are falling within the

limit. The LMTD values of the evaporator, cascade, and heat sink heat exchangers were 3.26 - 5.47,

5.88 - 7.18, and 4.62 - 10.23 respectively. Further, it calculates the different heating capacities of the

system for different heat source temperatures and COP of the LS, HS, and total systems. finally, it

plots the graphs based on the results of the model. A separate algorithm was set for calculating the LS

and HS COP concerning different LS and HS heat sink temperatures. In this case, the heat source

temperatures were kept constant at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50°C. finally, it ends.

17
Fig. 6 Algorithm flow chart of MATLAB Simulation

18
3. Results and discussion

The results of the performance of the proposed HTHP using natural zeotropic mixtures are

presented in this section and discussed in detail under different headings.

3.1 Influence of heat source inlet temperature on the system performance

Water was used as the heat source to supply the heat to the LS evaporator. The entry

temperature of the water at the LS heat exchanger that consists of an LS evaporator and a secondary

fluid (water) circuit is called the heat source inlet temperature. Heat source inlet temperatures were

considered as the input to the HTHP. The source temperature was maintained in the range of 10-50°C.

In this section, variation of the system’s performance pertaining to the change in heat source inlet

temperatures was investigated and described. As indicated in Table 1, this investigation was

conducted under four different zeotropic mixture compositions. The trend of heat sink temperatures of

the system for all four compositions of refrigerant mixtures (1-4) is represented in Figure 7(a). There

is direct relation exists between the heat source temperature and the heat sink temperature. Heat sink

temperature increases with the rise in heat source inlet temperature. Similarly, the increase in intensity

in CO2 mass faction percentage of the mixtures lifts the heat sink temperature to a significant level.

Refrigerant mixture composition - 1: indicates that it was possible to reach the heat sink temperature

above 100°C. The temperature promotion was in the range of 74.07°C and 51°C for the heat source

temperatures of 10 and 50°C, respectively. Refrigerant mixture composition - 2: A heat sink

temperature of 125°C was achieved with a rise of 19.68% compared to the 2% of CO2 in the mixture.

Similarly, there was a rise of 9.66% in heat sink temperature in refrigerant mixture composition - 3

compared to the 4% of CO2 in the mixture. Refrigerant mixture composition - 4: Demonstrated that

the system can reach a maximum heat sink temperature of 148.5°C for an 8% CO2 mass faction

percentage which is 6.72% greater than the 6% of CO2 in the mixture. These results indicate that the

impact of change in heat source inlet temperature is high in the system’s heat sink temperature.

The effect of the heat source inlet temperature, on the hot water outlet temperature of the

system is given in Figure 7 (b). The hot water delivery temperature improves with the rise in heat

source inlet temperature for all the refrigerant mixture compositions. The temperature lift of the

19
system was in the range of 40 to 68°C. The system was able to deliver the maximum hot water at

118°C, when the heat source inlet temperature was 50°C. It can be seen that the system was delivering

hot water above 100°C, when the heat source temperature starts at 40°C. These findings prove that the

system could perform high-temperature heating with a substantial temperature promotion.

160
4% CO2 6% CO2
150 8% CO2 2% CO2

140

130
T sink (°C)

120

110

100

90

80
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tsource (°C)

Fig. 7(a) Influence of heating source inlet temperature on Heat sink temperature

50
48
46
44
42
40
38
36
34
Tsource (°C)

32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Thot water (°C)
8% CO2 6% CO2 4% CO2 2% CO2

Fig. 7(b) Heating source inlet temperature vs Hot water outlet temperature

20
 Figure 7(c) illustrates the difference in the heating capacity of the HP for the various heat

source inlet temperatures. An increase in heat source temperature affects the heating capacity to a

considerable level. The heating capacity of the system increased with the upswing in heat source inlet

temperature. Heating capacity was enhanced from 56.75 to 190.37 kW for the source temperatures of

10 and 50°C respectively with a rise of 70.19% for the refrigerant mixture composition 1. Similarly,

for refrigerant mixture composition 4, it was 69.44%. It was also observed that the difference in

heating capacities between different refrigerant mixture compositions was 1-2%. The model

development indicates that the heating capacity was greatly shaped by the heat source input.

Variation in the mass flow rate of the zeotropic refrigerant mixtures in both the LS and HS

cycle of the system is indicated in Figure 7(d). The mass flow steadily grows with the boost in the

heat source temperature of the system. A similar trend is reflected in both stages of the system. The

mass flow was found in the range of 0.12 to 0.42 kg/s and 0.13 to 0.47 kg/s in LS and HS,

respectively. The mass flow rate increased by 74.77%.

200
4% CO2
6% CO2
8% CO2
2% CO2
150
Q sink (kW)

100

50

0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tsource (°C)

Fig. 7(c) Influence of heating source inlet temperature on Heat Capacity

The power consumption of the LS and HS compressors was added to get the total power

consumption of the system. Power consumption plays a key role in the operation and performance of

21
the HTHP. The effect of heat source inlet temperature on the system’s total power consumption is

illustrated in figure 7(e). The total power consumption boosts with the increases in heat source inlet

temperature from 10 - 50°C. The parallel trend of increase in power consumption was found for all

the different refrigerant mixture compositions 1-4. The power consumption was in the range of 20.09

to 42.3 kW and 32.7 to 64 kW for the refrigerant mixture compositions 1 and 4, respectively.

0.6

Refrigerant mass flow rate (HS)

0.5
Refrigerant mass flow rate (LS)
Refrigerant mass flow rate (kg/s)

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tsource (°C)

Fig. 7(d) Heating source inlet temperature vs Refrigerant mass flow rate

There was a rise of 20.56%, 9.65%, and 7.92% in power consumption between different

refrigerant mixture compositions compared to previous ones. It is perceptible that the increase in

source temperature very much alters the total power consumption of the systems.

Total system COP is the ratio between the heating capacity and the total power consumption

of the HP system. The change in the total system’s COP concerning the heat source inlet temperature

is presented in figure 7(f). A reversed trend is found for different refrigerant mixture compositions

compared to the total power consumption. As the total power consumption is higher for the refrigerant

mixture composition 4, the total COP is on the lower side and vice versa. However, the total system’s

COP raises with the surge in heat source inlet temperature for all refrigerant mixture compositions. It

is noticeable that the system can deliver a maximum COP of 4.50 for the refrigerant mixture

composition 1. Further, there is a reduction in COP of 16.56%, 8.34%, and 6.72% for the consecutive

22
refrigerant mixture compositions compared to the previous ones. The COP was 3.76 for the

refrigerant mixture composition 2. The outcome of this model reveals that the system was able to

deliver high-temperature heating as well as a high-level performance with a COP of 4.50. Also, this

system claims the benefits of using pure natural zeotropic mixtures. There is great potential for this

system to be implemented soon.

4% CO2
60
6% CO2
8% CO2
2% CO2
Total power consumption (kW)

50

40

30

20

10

0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tsource (°C)

Fig. 7(e) Effect of heating source inlet temperature on system’s Total power consumption

4.5

4.0

3.5

3.0
Total COP

2.5
4% CO2
2.0 6% CO2
8% CO2
1.5 2% CO2

1.0

0.5

0.0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tsource (°C)

23
 Fig. 7(f) Variation in heating source inlet temperature on Total system’s COP

5
4.50

4.04
4
3.63

2.88
3
2.61
COP

2.35

1
Adrian Mota-Babiloni et al. 2018
Present work
0
25 30 35 40 45 50 55
T source, in (°C)

Fig. 7(g) Comparison of COP of present work with published work

The result of the present work was compared with the published work of Adrian Mota-

Babiloni et al., 2018 (Mota-Babiloni, et al. 2018) and represented in figure 7 (g). The published work

considered a two-stage cascade refrigeration system including the refrigerants such as butane and

pentane in the LS and HS of the system, respectively. The total COP for different heat source

temperatures was simulated and presented. It can be observed that both works have shown a rise in

the trend of COP with the growth in heat source inlet temperatures. The published work produces

COPs of 2.35, 2.61, and 2.88 for the source temperatures of 30, 40, and 50°C, respectively. On the

other hand, the present work indicates a substantial improvement in the total system’s COP of 3.63,

4.04, and 4.50 respectively for the same source temperatures. Over 35% of COP improvement was

noted in the present system which is noteworthy. It is evident that the present HTHP performs well

due to the improved thermos-physical properties of the proposed natural zeotropic mixtures compared

to the published work.

24
 1000 LS Condenser pressure
HS Evaporator pressure
HS Condenser pressure
LS Evaporator pressure
800
Pressure (kpa)

600

400

200

0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tsource (°C)

(a)

1400

1200

1000

LS Condenser pressure
Pressure (kPa)

800 HS Evaporator pressure

HS Condenser pressure
LS Evaporator pressure
600

400

200

0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tsource (°C)

(b)

25
 1600

1400

1200
LS Condenser pressure
HS Evaporator pressure
1000 HS Condenser pressure
Pressure (kpa)

LS Evaporator pressure

800

600

400

200

0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tsource (°C)

(c)

2000

1800

1600

1400
LS Condenser pressure
HS Evaporator pressure
1200
Pressure (kpa)

HS Condenser pressure
LS Evaporator pressure
1000

800

600

400

200

0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Tsource (°C)

(d)
Fig. 8 (a-d) System’s pressures for different mass fractions of refrigerant mixtures

Pressures at all stages of the cascade HTHP system were investigated. Compressor

performance is directly related to pressure ratio, which can have a significant effect on overall

26
performance in the system. Pressure differences between the condensing and evaporating chambers

have a great impact on compressor efficiency. Fig. 8 (a-d) represents the effect of source temperatures

on the variation of LS and HS Evaporator and condenser pressures for the different mass fractions of

refrigerant mixtures (cases 1 to 4). The pressure of the LS and HS evaporator and condenser increases

with the increase in source temperature inlet of 10 to 50°C. It was observed that the HS evaporator

pressure increases for the increase in CO2 mass fractions of the refrigerant mixtures. There is a 23 to

27% pressure increase found for different mass fractions of the refrigerant mixtures. Also, the HS

condenser (heat sink) pressure increases significantly from 403 kpa up to 1870 kpa when the mass

fractions of the refrigerant mixtures increase as the heating capacity of the system increases

significantly up to 205 kW. For every 2% increase in mass fraction, the pressure level increased by

47%, 26%, and 20.7% respectively compared to the previous cases. The LS evaporator pressure varies

between 115 to 456 kpa whereas the LS condenser pressure was 676 to 1873 kpa. The HS pressure

levels were between 152.5 kpa to 1870 kpa whereas, for the LS, it was 115 kpa to 1873 kpa. The

pressure levels in both LS and HS indicate that the system pressure requirements are in good

agreement to operate the system effectively with excellent performance.

3.2 Impact of CO2 mass fractions of the refrigerant mixtures on the system performance

The cascade HTHP was investigated with the different CO2 mass fractions on both the LS and

HS of the system. The increase of CO2 mass fraction in the proposed refrigerant mixtures and its

effect on the LS, HS, and total power consumption was researched and presented in figure 9 (a). It

was noted that the increase in CO2 mass fraction of the refrigerant from 2 to 8% caused the total power

consumption of the system to rise to a considerable level from 42.3 to 64 kW, respectively. The total

power consumption grew by 20.5, 9.64 and 7.94% respectively for the different refrigerant mixture

compositions compared to the previous one. A similar increase in trend was found for LS and HS

with a small decrease at the end for the refrigerant mixture composition 4. The LS power consumption

has risen from 21.31 to 36.42 kW whereas HS power consumption increased from 21.31 to 27.71 kW

for different refrigerant mixture compositions 1-4. These results indicate that the addition of CO2

27
affects and increases the system’s power consumption to a significant level due to its high-pressure

level.

The maximum COP of the proposed system was studied and presented in Figure 9 (b). The

HTHP with refrigerant mixture composition 1, performs well with a total COP of 4.50. As the CO2

fraction boosts the total COP reduces. The minimum COP of 3.21 can be found for the system with

the refrigerant mixture composition 4. The COP of HS was in the range of 9.07 to 7.45 whereas the

LS COP reduces from 7.95 to 4.89. As the power consumption of both stages increased the level of

COP declined. It was perceptible that the increase in CO2 in the proposed refrigerant mixture causes

the system’s COP to reduce.

70 Low stage High stage Total Power consumption

64.00
Compressor Power Consumption (kW)

58.93
60
53.25

50
42.30

40

30

20

10

0
2% CO2 4% CO2 6% CO2 8% CO2
CO2 Mass fraction

Fig. 9(a) LS, HS, and Total power consumption for the different refrigerant mass fractions of
mixtures

28
 10
9.07 COP LS COP HS COP Total
9
7.95
8 7.41 7.45 7.55
7.32
7 6.59
Maximum COP

6 5.61
4.89
5 4.50 4.59

4 3.76
3.44
3.21 3.11
3

0
2% CO2 4% CO2 6% CO2 8% CO2 9%CO2
CO2 Mass Fraction

Fig. 9 (b) LS, HS, and Total maximum COP for the different refrigerant mass fractions of mixtures

Heat sink temperature was also analyzed for the different mass fractions of the CO 2 in the

refrigerant mixtures and illustrated in figure 9 (c). Temperatures of the heat sinks were examined

because they are vital for improving the temperature of the water being delivered. It indicates the

minimum and maximum heat sink temperatures that can be achieved by the proposed system. The

heat sink temperature improves while there is an increment in CO2 mass fraction in the refrigerant

mixture from 2 to 8%. With the present system, it was possible to obtain a maximum heat sink

temperature of 148.5°C. The maximum heat sink temperatures ranged from 100.5 to 148.5°C for the

refrigerant mixture compositions 1 to 4. The minimum heat sink temperatures were in the range of

84.07 to 135.66°C. A higher CO2 mass fraction increases the pressure of the refrigerant mixtures to a

significant level thereby it is possible to achieve superior heat sink temperatures.

29
 160
148.50
Minimum Tsink (°C) Maximum Tsink (°C)
138.51 135.66
140
125.13 125.31
120 111.31
100.50
100
Tsink (°C)

84.07
80

60

40

20

0
2% CO2 4% CO2 6% CO2 8% CO2
CO2 Mass Fraction

Fig. 9 (c) Heat Sink temperatures for the different refrigerant mass fractions of mixtures

3.3 Result of hot water outlet temperature on the system performance

Figure 10 presented the influence of hot water outlet temperature on the power consumed by

the LS and HS compressors. The power consumption of both the LS and HS compressors has shown a

rise in tendency when the hot water outlet temperature increases from 50 to 100°C (the same trend

was reported by Xuelian Ma et al. (Xuelian Ma, Yufeng Zhang og Lei Fang, et al. 2018)). Compressor

power consumption plays an important role in the performance of the system and the production of

hot water outlet temperature as the aim of the study. This needs to be critically investigated. The LS

compressor power increased from 13.47 kW to 21.31 kW, accounting for a 36.8% boost for a

temperature lift of 50°C. The HS power consumption increased from 6.62 kW to 20.98 kW,

accounting for a 68.45% boost. These results indicate that both compressors were loaded equally, and

the system effectively utilizes those when the HP generates hot water of more than 100°C. This equal

loading of compressors leads to much more stable operation of the system and better hot water

delivery. Also, observed that the hot water delivery of the system affects the compressor power

consumption to a considerable level.

30
 20

Compressor Power consumption (kW)

15

10
High stage
Low stage

0
50 52 54 56 58 60 62 65 67 69 72 74 77 80 82 85 88 91 94 97 100
Thot water out (°C)

Fig. 10 Hot water Temperature outlet vs Compressor power consumption

3.4 Impact of heat sink temperature on the individual system COP

Evaluation of individual system COP relating to heat sink temperature was conducted to

ensure the higher performance of the system and the hot water delivery. The relation between the heat

sink temperature and the LS cycle COP was analyzed and presented in figure 11 (a). Both figures 11

(a) and (b) followed the trend published by Joaquín Navarro-Esbrí et al. (Joaquín Navarro-Esbrí, et al.

2022). In this case, the heat source temperature was kept constant at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50°C. The

heat sink temperature was varied to get the LS cycle COP. When the heat sink temperature increased,

the LS cycle COP decreased for all the heat source temperatures. For a heat source temperature of

10°C, the COP decreased from 4.65 to 2.09 when the heat sink temperature increased from 65.38 to

125.97 °C. there was a reduction in COP of 55% was observed. Similarly, for heat source

temperatures of 20, 30, 40, and 50°C, a decline in COP of 56, 54, 50, and 52% respectively were

noted. The level of COP has shown an increase in trend for the increase in heat source temperatures.

For 50°C, the COP was high (5.58 to 11.69) compared to other heat source temperatures. As the heat

source temperature grew from 10 to 50°C, the level of COP increases substantially.

31
 Low-stage cycle
14

Tsource = 10°C
12
Tsource = 20°C
Tsource = 30°C
10
Tsource = 40°C
Tsource = 50°C
8
COP

0
60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140
Tsink (°C)

Fig. 11 (a) Heat sink Temperature vs LS COP for different heating source Temperatures

High-stage cycle
11

10

9
COP

6
80 100 120
Tsink (°C)

Fig. 11 (b) Heat sink Temperature vs HS COP

Similarly, the HS cycle COP for all the heat source temperatures was analyzed and presented

in figure 10 (b). The drop in HS COP was observed when the heat sink temperature improved. For all

the heat source temperatures, the model produced the same values of HS COP. The HS COP was in

32
the range of 9.94 to 7.88. HS COP dropped by 20.89% in this case. It indicates that the HS COP was

not affected by the heat source temperatures whereas it affects the LS COP to a significant level.

4. Conclusion
A cascade HTHP with newly developed natural zeotropic mixtures such as CO2/Butane (low-

stage) and CO2/Pentane (high-stage) was modeled and optimized in the present work. A

comprehensive analysis was conducted using MATLAB to build the model. Based on the results of

the current study, the following conclusions were drawn. Model results indicate a great deal of

influence from the heat source temperature on the performance of the system, and high-temperature

heating can be achieved more than 100°C. In the LS and HS of the system, the CO2 mass fraction

percentage increased from 2 to 8%, resulting in elevated hot water temperatures up to 118 °C and heat

sink temperatures. The system becomes more efficient with a heating capacity of 205 kW. The

pressure level increases in the system as the CO2 mass faction increases in the refrigerant mixture.

However, it is well below 2000 kpa to operate the system effectively. The pressure range of the LS

and HS systems was found between 152.5 kPa to 1870 and 115 kPa and 1873 kPa respectively. A

gradual increase in CO2 mass fraction in the refrigerant mixture led to the increased power

consumption of the system. This resulted in a decrease of 4.5 to 3.21 in the total system COP. While

the heat source temperatures remained constant, LS and HS COP decreased with increasing heat sink

temperatures. A comparison of the results of different refrigerant mixture compositions indicates that

the system with refrigerant mixture composition 1 could perform well as it produces a high system

COP (4.50) and high-temperature heating possibilities above 100°C. Also, possible to use the

refrigerant mixture composition 2 for better water heating than 2% of CO2 in the mixture, but the

system’s COP will drop. A comparison of the present work with the published result indicates that the

present system has 36% of COP improvement potential which is significant.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal

relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

33
Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully thank the financial support from the Research Council of Norway
under the Chinese-Norwegian collaboration project on Energy (Project number: 304191) - Key
technologies and demonstration of combined cooling, heating, and power generation for low-carbon
neighborhoods/buildings with clean energy (ChiNoZEN). The authors also gratefully acknowledge
the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52036004).

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Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or
personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in
this paper.

36