Performance evaluation of organic and titanium based working fluids for high-temperature heat pumps

In this paper, selected organic and titanium based fluids (biphenyl, biphenylmethane, naphthalene, isoquinoline, titanium tetrabromide and titanium tetraiodide) are assessed thermodynamically as potential working fluids for high temperature mechanical heat pumps. Various applications, such as thermo-chemical cycles for hydrogen production, chemical processes comprising endothermic reactions, steam generators and metallurgical processes, can benefit from such heat pumps as “green” sources of high temperature heat. The environmental benefit occurs from avoiding fossil fuel heating and therefore reducing carbon dioxide and other pollutant emissions. Through heat pumps, a low-grade heat source from nuclear reactors, industrial waste, geothermal, etc. can be upgraded to high temperatures through a work-to-heat conversion. The work itself can originate from any source of renewable energy (wind, hydro, biomass, solar, etc.). In this paper, available thermo-physical parameters of the selected fluids are presented and appropriate equations of state are constructed to allow a heat pump thermodynamic analysis. Among these working fluids, only biphenyl, naphthalene, titanium tetrabromide and titanium tetraiodide have promising potential. For these fluids, a further parametric study is conducted to investigate the COP for a range of relevant operating conditions, in terms of temperature and pressure. The range of COP values is large, ranging from 1.9 to 7.3, depending on the fluid and temperature levels; the highest COP is obtained with TiI4.