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2018-01-0063 Published 03 Apr 2018
System Characteristics of Direct and Secondary
Loop Heat Pump for Electrical Vehicles
Dandong Wang, Tianyuan Gao, Wanyong Li, Yun Yang, Junye Shi, and Jiangping Chen Shanghai Jiao Tong
University
Citation: Wang, D., Gao, T., Li, W., Yang, Y. et al., “System Characteristics of Direct and Secondary Loop Heat Pump for Electrical
Vehicles,” SAE Technical Paper 2018-01-0063, 2018, doi:10.4271/2018-01-0063.
Abstract
T
he electricity energy consumption for passenger cabin
heating can drastically shorten the driving range for
electric vehicles in cold climates. Mobile heat pump
system is considered as an effective method to improve heating
efficiency. This study investigates the system characteristics of
mobile heat pump systems for electrical vehicle application.
Based on KULI thermal management software, simulation
models including HFC-R134a direct heat pump (DHP) and
secondary loop heat pump (SLHP) were developed. The
secondary loop employed in the SLHP includes a coolant pump,
an indoor heater core and a plate heat exchanger, instead of an
indoor condenser in the DHP. The use of a secondary loop has
advantages to improve air outlet temperature uniformity. The
Introduction
E
lectrical vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly
popular due to the benefits of low vehicle emissions.
However, the lack of engine exhaust waste heat in EVs
means that additional heat sources are required to ensure
cabin thermal comfort in cold climates. The electricity
consumption for cabin heating significantly affects the driving
range, resulting in a 50% reduction in range under extreme
cold conditions [1, 2]. Compared with a conventional positive
temperature coefficient (PTC) heater for cabin heating, a
mobile heat pump system is an effective method to improve
heating efficiency and reduce energy consumption.
Previous studies have focused on the development of
mobile heat pump systems in electrical vehicles, but not a lot
of studies have analyzed the cycle characteristics under
different operating conditions. Qi et al. [3] performed a litera-
ture review on the mobile heat pump cycle design, system
performance, and challenges for variable working fluids. Ahn
et al. [4] investigated the feasibility of a heat pump using an
additional waste heat source. The COP and heating capacity
at the outdoor air temperature of 0 °C increased by 9.3% and
31.5%, respectively, with increasing waste heat amount from
0 kW to 2.5 kW. Kwon et al. [5] introduced a vapor injection
heat pump system to overcome the performance degradation
at very low ambient temperatures for EVs. It is concluded that
the vapor injection heat pump system could increase the heat
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simulation models were verified by measured data obtained
from calorimeter experiments. By adopting simulation models,
the effects of indoor and outdoor temperatures on system
performance and cycle characteristics were discussed. Results
show that the increase of indoor temperature will largely
decrease the system efficiency, and varied outdoor temperature
has a big impact on heating capacity. Then the comparison
simulations between DHP and SLHP were conducted, to deter-
mine the effect of the secondary loop on heating performance.
Results show that the use of a secondary loop is severely
harmful to system efficiency, but has little effect on heating
capacity. Furthermore, the impact of coolant flow rate on the
capacity and COP was discussed, and heat transfer effectiveness
of heater core and plate heat exchanger were also evaluated.
recovery in the evaporator, and significantly improve the
heating capacity and COP.
To prevent potentially flammable refrigerant (such as
R1234yf, R290 and R152a) entering the occupied space of the
EV, the use of a secondary loop mobile air conditioner was
proposed for the heat pump system, in which an extra coolant
loop is used to transport heat from the condenser to the heater
core [6, 7, 8]. The secondary loop system can reduce the system
refrigerant charge and increase the uniformity of the air outlet
temperature distribution, but the effect of this secondary loop
system on overall system performance remains to
be determined.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the system
characteristics of R134a mobile heat pump systems for elec-
trical vehicle application. Based on KULI software [9], simula-
tion models including a direct heat pump (DHP) and a
secondary loop heat pump (SLHP) system were established,
whose precision were verified by measured data obtained from
calorimeter experiments. By adopting simulation models, the
effects of indoor and outdoor temperatures on system perfor-
mance were discussed. Additionally, the comparison simula-
tions between DHP and SLHP were conducted, to determine
the effect of the secondary loop on heating performance.
Furthermore, the impacts of coolant flow rate on the capacity
and COP were discussed, and heat transfer effectiveness of
heater core and plate heat exchanger (PHX) were also evaluated.
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2 System Characteristics of Direct and Secondary Loop Heat Pump for Electrical Vehicles

Experimental Research  FIGURE 1   Schematic diagram of psychometric calorimeter

test facility

Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of the psychometric

calorimeter test facility used for mobile heat pump perfor-
mance test. Figure 2 shows the schematic diagram of cooling
mode operation and heating mode operation for DHP and
SLHP. As Figure 2a shown, the DHP is composed of an elec-
trical compressor, an indoor condenser, two thermal expan-
sion valves (TXV), an outdoor heat exchanger (HX) and an
accumulator. For the SLHP shown in Figure 2b, a secondary

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coolant loop including a PHX, an indoor heater core and a
coolant pump replaces the indoor condenser in the DHP. The
change of cooling mode and heating mode of these two heat
pump systems is controlled by switching the stop valve condi-
tions and air door direction. In cooling mode, the inlet air is
cooled down by passing through the indoor evaporator and
 FIGURE 2   Schematic diagrams of (a) DHP and (b) SLHP
then directly flows into passenger cabin, without crossing the
indoor condenser. Thus the cooling mode configuration of
these heat pump systems is almost same as that of conven-
tional mobile air conditioning systems, and the use of
secondary loop in the SLHP has no influence on refrigerant
flow and cooling performance.
In heating mode, the air door is open from left side to
right side, which makes the inlet air after indoor evaporator
pass through the indoor condenser. And the stop valve (5-2
in Figure 2a, 7-2 in Figure 2b) is switched from OFF to ON,
which drives refrigerant bypass the indoor evaporator. In the
DHP, the compressor compresses the superheated vapor to
high pressure and high temperature, and then discharges it
to indoor condenser. When the indoor condenser rejects heat
from the refrigerant to the indoor air, the refrigerant is cooled
and the indoor air is heated. Then the refrigerant passes
through TXV and is throttled to low pressure state. In the
SLHP, the compressor discharges the high temperature refrig-
erant to the counter-flow PHX as it transfers heat to the
coolant. Then, driven by a coolant pump, the heated coolant
flows into the indoor heater core, and releases heat to the
indoor inlet air. Thus, the main difference of two heat pump
systems is that the indoor inlet air is heated by the indoor
condenser in the DHP, but it is heated by the indoor heater

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core in the SLHP.
This paper is focused on the study of heating performance
for mobile heat pump systems, thus only the heating operation
performance was simulated by software and measured by
calorimeter test facility. The electrical compressor used in the
experiment is a scroll type compressor with 34 cc displace- TABLE 1  The specifications of the heat pump components
ment, driven by an integrated motor controller. The compressor
Component Description
speed can be adjusted from 800 to 6000 RPM. The indoor
condenser and outdoor evaporator used in this test rig are Compressor Scroll type, 34 cc, 800-6000
RPM
aluminum micro-channel heat exchangers. The heater core
used in the SLHP is a common component used in conven- Outdoor evaporator Micro-channel,
700(W)*380(H)*16(D) mm
tional AC system. The coolant circulated in the secondary
loop is 50% water and 50% glycol. The specifications of each Indoor condenser Micro-channel,
275(W)*140(H)*32(D) mm
component are listed in Table 1.
Indoor heater core Micro-channel,
The psychometric calorimeter test facility consisted of an
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270(W)*130(H)*25(D) mm
outdoor chamber and an indoor chamber with different open
PHX Aluminum, counter-flow,
wind tunnels. The outdoor evaporator and indoor condenser
70(W)*50(H)*180(D)
were separately installed at the inlets of the wind tunnels. The
Accumulator Aluminum, 600 cc
air conditions in each chamber can be controlled by the
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System Characteristics of Direct and Secondary Loop Heat Pump for Electrical Vehicles 3

TABLE 2  Uncertainties of the experimental parameters and  FIGURE 3   (a) Refrigerant side and (b) air side diagram in
measured data KULI simulation model
Items Uncertainties
Temperature sensors (RTD- ±0.2 °C
type, Yokogawa)
Pressure transducers (GE- ±0.5%
Druck)
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Mass flow rate (Coriolis type, ±0.15%, Max 300 kg ∙ h−1

KROHNE)
Heating capacity 5.5%
Heating COP 6.3%

environmental system, which consists of a refrigeration unit,

an electrical heater, and humidity control equipment. The
environmental dry temperature and wet bulb temperature
can be controlled within ±0.2 °C. A variable speed blower
produced the flow of air through each heat exchanger, and
standard nozzles in the wind tunnel were used to measure the
flow rate. Uncertainties of the experimental parameters and
measured data are listed in Table 2.
The heating capacity (Q) of the tested heat pump was
determined by the air side and refrigerant side heat transfer
rate using equation (1). The air side heat transfer was calcu-
lated by the heat balanced method using equation (2). The
refrigerant side heat transfer rate was obtained by the enthalpy
difference calculation using equation (3). The overall system
COP was determined by equation (4). Analysis of the experi-
mental results indicated that the errors between the heat
© SAE International

transfer rate for the air side and the refrigerant side were
within ±5%. Using uncertainty analysis method [10], the
overall relative uncertainty of the heating capacity and COP
were calculated as 5.5% and 6.3%, respectively.
Q = ( Qa + Qr ) / 2 (1)
Qa = maC p (Ta ,out − Ta ,in ) (2)
Qr = mr ( hcon ,in − hcon ,out ) (3)
COP = Q / W (4)
Where Q, Qa and Qr represent heating capacity, air side
heating capacity and refrigerant side heating capacity, respec-
tively. Ta, out and Ta, in represent indoor air inlet temperature
and indoor air outlet temperature, respectively. hcon, in and hcon,
out represent condenser refrigerant inlet enthalpy and
condenser refrigerant outlet enthalpy, respectively. ma and mr
represent air mass flow rate and refrigerant mass flow rate,
respectively. C p and W represent air specific heat and
compressor input work, respectively.
defined. Whereas tubes and bends were not included, because
their influence on the entire cycle has turned out not to be of
notable relevance for this simulation.
The efficiency of electrical compressor was described by
experimentally determined characteristic curves. The scroll
type compressor displacement was kept constantly with 34 cc.
For the expansion valve, here the TXV with 5 K superheat was
used. For heat exchangers, KULI provides a convenient way to
fit their equations for air-side and refrigerant-side heat transfer
and pressure drop characteristics. Thus the outdoor evaporator,
indoor heater core, indoor condenser, and PHX were modelled
based on detailed geometry and experimental measured results.
For the secondary loop, a pump component was used to drive
the coolant. And the coolant is 50% glycol and 50% water.

Simulation Models Results and Discussion

The KULI thermal management software was adopted to carry
out simulation calculations. 1-D KULI simulation diagram
of two heat pump models for steady state operations is shown
in Figure 3, which is set up according to test rig configuration.
Components including a compressor, an indoor condenser, a
TXV, an outdoor evaporator, a PHX and a heater core were
© 2018 SAE International. All Rights Reserved.
Model Verification
System experiments were carried out in the calorimeter test
facility with varied operation conditions, to verify the accuracy
of established heat pump models. Figure 4 shows the compar-
ison of COP and heating capacity between experimental data
and predicted results of model. It can be observed the prediction
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4 System Characteristics of Direct and Secondary Loop Heat Pump for Electrical Vehicles
 FIGURE 4   Comparison of (a) heating capacity and (b) COP
between experimental data and predicted results of model
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error of heating capacity and COP are less than ±10% and ±12%,
respectively. Thus these models have been validated to have
good precision and reliability, which could be employed to
predict the system performance and reveal cycle characteristics
of DHP and SLHP.
The Effects of Outdoor
Temperature
By using validated KULI model, the steady state heating
performance of DHP under varied outdoor temperature
conditions was firstly calculated and compared, as shown in
Figure 5a. During simulation, the compressor speed is fixed
at 6000 PRM, the indoor air inlet temperature is 20 °C, the
outdoor air velocity is 2 m/s and indoor air flow is 350 m3/h.
When the outdoor temperature increased from −10 °C to 10
°C, the heating capacity (Q) increased from 3.0 kW to 5.0 kW,
and the corresponding COP increased by 5%, from 1.9 to 2.0.
It indicates that the outdoor temperature has a big impact on
the heating capacity, but a small effect on the COP for R134a
heat pump system. The R134a refrigerant density at compressor
suction increased by 75%, which results in the great improve-
ment of refrigerant mass flow and heating capacity. To reveal
the cycle characteristics, the P-h diagram of heat pump cycles
with varied outdoor temperature is shown in Figure 5b. Both
the suction pressure and discharge pressure increased with
the change of outdoor temperature. It could be observed that
the refrigerant enthalpy difference happened in the condenser
and compressor reduced and their changes were less than 15%,
which results in a small change for COP.
 FIGURE 5   (a) Calculated performance results and (b) P-h
diagram of thermal cycles under varied outdoor temperature
conditions (Compressor speed 6000 RPM, outdoor velocity
2 m/s, indoor air inlet temperature 20 °C, indoor mass flow
350 m3/h)
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The Effects of Indoor
Temperature
Figure 6a shows the effect of indoor temperature on system
performance by model simulation for DHP. It shows that as
the indoor air inlet temperature increased from −6 °C to 20
°C, the heating capacity decreased by 5% from 3.7 kW to
3.5 kW, the compressor work increased by 38% from 1.3 kW
to 1.8 kW, and the corresponding COP decreased by 31% from
2.81 to 1.95. It indicates that the indoor temperature has a
small impact on the heating capacity, but has a big effect on
the COP for heat pump system. To reveal the cycle character-
istics, the P-h diagram of heat pump cycles with varied indoor
temperature is shown in Figure 6b. The increased air inlet
temperature enhanced the condensing temperature, which
causes the discharge pressure improve from 0.87  MPa to
1.63 MPa and the discharge temperature increase from 72 °C
to 102 °C. It can be observed that the change of enthalpy differ-
ence of condenser is less than 10%. Due to the similar pressure
and temperature, the refrigerant density at the compressor
suction was mostly constant. The similar refrigerant mass flow
and enthalpy difference happened in condenser could account
for the small change of heating capacity. It also can be observed
that the enthalpy difference of compressor increased from
67.7 kJ/kg to 91.2 kJ/kg, explaining the 31% reduction of COP
with variation of indoor temperature.
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System Characteristics of Direct and Secondary Loop Heat Pump for Electrical Vehicles 5

 FIGURE 6   (a) Calculated performance results and (b) P-h
diagram of thermal cycles under varied indoor temperature
conditions (Compressor speed 6000 RPM, outdoor velocity
2 m/s, outdoor air inlet temperature − 5 °C, indoor mass flow
350 m3/h)
 FIGURE 7   The comparison of heating capacity and COP
between DHP and SLHP at varied indoor temperature
(Compressor speed 6000 RPM, outdoor velocity 2 m/s,
outdoor air inlet temperature − 5 °C, indoor mass flow
350 m3/h, 10 L/min)

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 FIGURE 8   The effect of coolant mass flow on the (a)
system performance and (b) heat exchanger effectiveness
(Compressor speed 6000 RPM, outdoor velocity 2 m/s,
outdoor air inlet temperature − 5 °C, indoor mass flow
350 m3/h)
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Secondary Loop Heat Pump

Figure 7 shows the comparison of heating capacity and COP
between DHP and SLHP at varied indoor temperature.
Compared with DHP, the heating capacity of SLHP reduced
by 3%-4%, and the COP declined by 19%-26%. It indicates
that the using secondary loop will cause a large loss for COP,
but have a little impact on heating capacity. The use of a
secondary loop increased the heat transfer resistance in high
pressure side, which caused higher condensing temperature
© SAE International

of SLHP. By average, the condensing temperature of SLHP

was 18 K higher than that of DHP, as a result, the COP declined
more than 19% with the use of the secondary loop.
Figure 8a shows the impact of coolant flow rate on the
system performance and heat transfer effectiveness. When
coolant flow rate increased from 2 L/min to 16 L/min, the
change of heating capacity was less than 2%, but COP coolant flow rate was more than 12 L/min, the coolant temper-
improved by 12% to 1.73. As Figure 8b shown, with the change ature difference between inlet and outlet of PHX was less than
of coolant flow rate, the heat transfer efficiency increased from 5 K, which could ensure a uniform air outlet temperature
0.56 to 0.74 for PHX, and it improved from 0.60 to 0.71 for distribution. Thus, it is concluded that the increase of coolant
heater core. The temperature difference between inlet and flow rate contributes to the improvement of heat transfer and
outlet coolant of plate heat exchanger reduced from 18 K to COP, and a proper flow rate need to be controlled to maximize
3.5 K. When the coolant flow rate was more than 8 L/min, its COP and narrow coolant temperature difference in
effect on system performance was ignorable. And when the real application.
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6 System Characteristics of Direct and Secondary Loop Heat Pump for Electrical Vehicles

Summary/Conclusions Vehicles,” International Journal of Refrigeration 74:138-150,

2017, doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2016.10.004.
6. Kowsky, C., Leitzel, L., Oddi, F., and Wolfe, E., “Unitary HPAC
This paper investigates the system characteristics of mobile System-Commercial Vehicle Applications,” SAE Technical
heat pump systems for electrical vehicle application. Based on Paper 2012-01-2025, 2012, doi:10.4271/2012-01-2025.
KULI software, simulation models including a DHP and a
7. Andersen, S., Chowdhury, S., Craig, T., Kapoor, S. et al.,
SLHP heat pump system were established, and they were
“Comparative Manufacturing and Ownership Cost
verified by measured data obtained from calorimeter experi- Estimates for Secondary Loop Mobile Air Conditioning
ments. By adopting simulation models, the effects of indoor Systems (SL-MACs),” SAE Technical Paper 2017-01-0173,
and outdoor temperatures on system performance were 2017, doi:10.4271/2017-01-0173.
discussed and analyzed. The results are as follows.
8. Wang, D., Yu, B., Hu, J. et al., “Heating Performance
•• When the outdoor temperature increased from −10 °C to Characteristics of CO2 Heat Pump System for Electrical
5 °C, the heating capacity and COP increased by 31% Vehicle in a Cold Climate,” International Journal of
and 5%, respectively. The outdoor temperature has a big Refrigeration, 2017, doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2017.09.009.
impact on the heating capacity, but a small effect on the 9. KULI, Software Tool for Vehicle Thermal Management
COP for R134a heat pump system. Optimization, MAGNA powertrain.
•• When the indoor temperature increased from −6 °C to 10. Moffat, R.J., “Describing the Uncertainties in Experimental
20 °C, the heating capacity and COP decreased by 5% Results,” Experimental Thermal & Fluid Science 1(1):3-17,
and by 38%, respectively. The small of refrigerant mass 1988, doi:10.1016/0894-1777(88)90043-X.
flow and enthalpy difference happened in condenser
could account for the small effect of indoor temperature
on heating capacity.
Contact Information
Main author: Jiangping Chen
•• Compared with DHP, the heating capacity of SLHP
jpchen_sjtu@163.com
reduced by 3%-4%, and the COP declined by 19%-26%.
The use of a secondary loop increased the heat transfer Affiliation: Shanghai Jiaotong University
resistance in high pressure side, which caused higher Tel: (+86)021-34206087
condensing temperature of SLHP. Address: Room 361, building C, the school of mechanical
engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, No.800,
•• The increase of coolant flow rate contributes to the Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, P.R.China
improvement of heat transfer and COP, and a proper flow
rate need to be controlled to maximize COP and narrow
coolant temperature difference in real application. Definitions/Abbreviations
COP - Coefficient of performance
Due to similar property of HFO-R1234yf with HFC-R134a,
thus above conclusions also can be applied to R1234yf heat Cp - Air specific heat
pump system. DHP - Direct heat pump
EV - Electrical vehicles
hcon,in - Condenser refrigerant inlet enthalpy
References hcon,out - Condenser refrigerant outlet enthalpy
HVAC - Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
1. Higuchi, Y., Kobayashi, H., Shan, Z., Kuwahara, M. et al., HX - Heat exchanger
“Efficient Heat Pump System for PHEV/BEV,” SAE Technical ma - Air mass flow rate
Paper 2017-01-0188, 2017, doi:10.4271/2017-01-0188.
mr - Refrigerant mass flow rate
2. Lajunen, A., “Energy Efficiency and Performance of Cabin
PTC - Positive temperature coefficient
Thermal Management in Electric Vehicles,” SAE Technical
Paper 2017-01-0192, 2017, doi:10.4271/2017-01-0192. PHX - Plate heat exchanger
3. Qi, Z., “Advances on Air Conditioning and Heat Pump System SLHP - Secondary loop heat pump
in Electric Vehicles-A Review,” Renewable and Sustainable TXV - Thermal expansion valve
Energy Reviews 38:754-764, 2014, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.038. Ta,in - Indoor air inlet temperature
4. Ahn, J.H., Lee, J.S., Baek, C. et al., “Performance Improvement Ta,out - Indoor air outlet temperature
of a Dehumidifying Heat Pump Using an Additional Waste
Heat Source in Electric Vehicles with Low Occupancy,” Energy
Q - Heating capacity
115:67-75, 2016, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.038. Qa - Air side heating capacity
5. Kwon, C., Mo, S.K., Choi, Y. et al., “Performance Evaluation Qr - Refrigerant side heating capacity
of a Vapor Injection Heat Pump System for Electric W - Compressor input work
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