Investigation on the Performances of the Gas Driven Vuilleumier Heat Pump

Gas driven Vuilleumier heat pump is a closed cycle, where the working gas is kept inside the three cylinders and the heat of gas and surroundings are added to and removed from the cycle through heat exchanger. It has many advantages, such as fewer moving parts, low noise and long lifespan. Competitive to absorption cycle, It has the potential for higher Coefficient of Performance (COP). A prototype Vuilleumier heat pump is taken for an example to analyze the performances of gas driven VM heat pump. Results indicate that with higher mean working pressure, the performance of system is improved. As the cold cylinder temperature decrease, refrigerating capacity and COP are both decrease. The refrigerating capacity of gas driven VM heat pump is increased while the COP is decreased with an increase in the rotational speed. Selection of the working gases is also discussed.