Energy and exergy analyses of an integrated solar heat pump system

• An integrated system is analysed using renewable energy source which can be used in textile industry.
• Energy losses and exergy destructions are calculated at all major components.
• Energy and exergy efficiencies of all subunits, subsystems and overall system are determined.
• A parametric study shows the effect of environment and operating conditions on efficiencies.
• Solar energy for heating in textile industry is efficient and environmentally friendly.

An integrated solar and heat pump based system for industrial heating is developed in this study. The system comprises heat pump cycle for process heating water and solar energy for another industrial heating process. Comprehensive energy and exergy analyses are performed on the system. These analyses generated some compelling results as expected because of the use of green and environmentally friendly energy sources. The results show that the energy efficiency of the process is 58% while the exergy efficiency is 75%. Energetic COP of the heat pump cycle is 3.54 whereas the exergy efficiency is 42.5%. Moreover, the energetic COP of the system is 2.97 and the exergy efficiency of the system is 35.7%. In the parametric study, a different variation such as changing the temperature and pressure of the condenser also shows positive results.