Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Performance evaluation of secondary loop low-temperature heat pump T

system for frost prevention in electric vehicles
Wanyong Lia, Yusheng Liua, Rui Liua, Dandong Wanga, Junye Shia,b, Zhanjun Yuc, Lifeng Chengc,
Jiangping Chena,b,
⁎

a
Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
b
Shanghai High Efficient Cooling System Research Center, Shanghai, China
c
Fawer Automotive Parts Limited Company Thermal System Division, Changchun, China

HIGHLIGHTS

• The secondary loop system shows excellent anti-frost performance.

• The heating performance of the secondary loop and direct system were compared.
• The effects of water flow rate, dry bull temperature, and wet bull temperature were investigated.

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Heating performance attenuation and frosting in the air conditioning system make electric vehicles unusable in
Electric vehicle harsh winter weather. A solution to the secondary loop low-temperature heat pump air conditioning system is
Heat pump proposed in this paper. The frost-prevention performance of the secondary loop heat pump air conditioning
Secondary loop system under various low-temperature conditions was studied in a typical electric vehicle. The traditional direct
Frost
heat pump air conditioning system scheme was also tested for the sake of comparison. The secondary loop heat
Heat transfer
pump air-conditioning system performs better in terms of heat transfer and system COP than the traditional heat
pump in low temperatures. The secondary loop heat pump system functions stably and efficiently within 5 h
under severe frosting conditions. To this effect, the proposed technology is a workable solution for electric
vehicle air conditioning systems in −20 to 0 °C environments.

1. Introduction
High-emission fuel vehicles have fallen under increasing pressure in
regards to production, sales, and usage since the United Nations laun-
ched the Paris Agreement [26] and the document “Transforming our
world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” [2]. New en-
ergy vehicles, especially electric vehicles, are the dominant trend in
today’s global automobile industry [25,7,18]. Electric vehicles produce
low emissions and are generally environmentally friendly provided that
electric power is generated in an environmentally friendly manner; they
also allow for enhanced driving comfort, stability, and safety compared
to gasoline or diesel vehicles.
However, electric vehicles are not without problems. In winter,
traditional automobile air heating is provided by waste heat from the
engine’s cooling water. Electric vehicles do not have sufficient waste
heat from the engine to meet the heating demand for the cabin [31].
The use of positive temperature coefficient electric heater (PTC) for
electric vehicle air heating causes a range attenuation of 50–60% [4,1],
which markedly hinders the nationwide application and promotion of
electric vehicles.
Air source heat pump technology provides an effective solution of
this problem as per its high efficiency, environmental friendliness, low
cost, and easy optimization [9,12]. However, the traditional direct heat
pump air conditioning/heating system presents serious frosting pro-
blems in low-temperature climates; it drives down the heating capacity
and coefficient of performance (COP) by 30%–60%. The unit may even
shut down due to frost, rendering the vehicle unusable in cold regions
[30,8,3,20]. The traditional direct heat pump system generally does not
meet the heating demands of the cabin, especially in ultra-low tem-
perature environments of −20 °C [5,6]. Many researchers and

⁎
Corresponding author at: Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
E-mail address: jpchen_sjtu@163.com (J. Chen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.115615
Received 25 February 2020; Received in revised form 22 May 2020; Accepted 16 June 2020
Available online 23 June 2020
1359-4311/ © 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
W. Li, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615

Nomenclature HT Heat transfer

I Compressor current (A)
COP Coefficient of performance (–) Q Heating capacity (kW)
EXV Electronic expansion valve t Temperature (°C)
HX Heat exchanger UR Relative uncertainty (%)
PTC Positive temperature coefficient electric heater
qm Mass flow (kg·s 1) Subscripts
U Compressor voltage (V)
W Compressor work (kW) In Inlet
Cp Specific heat capacity at constant pressure (kJ·kg 1·K 1) out Outlet

developers have sought solutions to this problem.
The conventional solution to low-temperature performance de-
gradation and insufficient heating capacity is vapor injection. Zhang
et al. [34] studied R134a high-efficiency vapor injection technology to
find that heat production can be increased by 44.1% with enhanced air
supply under −10 °C ambient temperature. Xu et al. [32] built a flash-
tank-type enhanced vapor injection heat pump system. In a test under
−25 °C, vapor injection increased the heat production capacity and
COP by 17.4% and 12.9%, respectively.
There are also optimization methods for substituting R134a re-
frigerant. Wang et al. [28,27] researched the ultra-low temperature
heating performance of a CO2 electric vehicle heat pump air-con-
ditioning system; its heating capacity and COP of CO2 reached 3.6 kW
and 3.1, respectively, at −20 °C, marking respective increases of 18%
and 50% over the R134a system. The supercritical CO2 heat pump
system is also an interesting potential solution to system efficiency and

(a) Traditional direct system

(b) Secondary loop system

Fig. 1. Comparison of heat pump systems.

2
W. Li, et al.
pressure optimization problems.
The influence of frost formation on the outdoor heat exchanger
system in cold weather has been the focus of many studies as well. Xu
et al. [33] analyzed the influence of residual water at the fin root of a
microchannel heat exchanger on frosting performance. The horizontal
tube microchannel heat exchanger appears to frost more easily than the
vertical tube due to residual water; an increase in residual water creates
a larger amount of frost and a significant decline in heating capacity.
The negative effect of residual water on frosting is also a problem
that the secondary loop may resolve. Rafati et al. [16] found that using
waste heat to preheat intake air can significantly reduce frosting. The
uniformity of refrigerant distribution is also an important factor af-
fecting frost. Qu et al. [15] found that frosting in the lower loop is
affected by gravity and many other factors when the distribution of
refrigerants is uneven. Song et al. [22,23] later found that defrosting
efficiency can be increased by 9.8% after eliminating the negative effect
of gravity on defrosting downward flow. Redo et al. [17] used visua-
lized data to analyze in refrigerant flow distribution uniformity and
variations in an operational microchannel heat exchanger.
Many researchers have also attempted to solve the frosting problem
by improving the surface flow of fins. Wang et al. [29] proposed an
anti-frost method to remove condensation droplets at the initial frosting
stage by using the intermittent action of air on the surface of a finned
tube. The degree of improvement increases as air velocity and tem-
perature increase; the total heating quantity increased by 14.8–32.0%
and the average COP by 11.8%−29.4% in their study. Park et al. [13]
manufactured a heat exchanger with vortex-generating fins at the
center of each louver. The vortex generated by the fin reduces the frost-
clogging rate of the fin head and improves the frost-clogging uni-
formity, which can improve the heat transfer performance by more than
28%.
The studies discussed above centered on the defrosting of heat ex-
changers after frosting has occurred rather than the prevention of
frosting. The effects of defrosting are unstable due to inherent varia-
tions in application scenarios. Therefore, preventing frosting formation
– rather than ameliorating frost once it has accumulated – is a prefer-
able approach to resolving the heat exchanger frosting problem.
There has been further cutting-edge technological research in the
Fig. 2. Experimental bench.
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Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615
field of refrigeration which merits discussion here. Shi et al. [21], for
example, reviewed the use of electrothermal effect for refrigeration and
heating, where the field charge distribution inside the medium is re-
arranged under the action of an applied electric field, changing the
polarization direction to offset the effect of the applied electric field.
This also creates a change in entropy, which causes a change in tem-
perature.
This paper proposes a new technical solution for electric vehicle
low-temperature secondary loop heat pump air conditioning systems
with waste heat recovery. The technology was designed to allow for
proper electric vehicle air conditioning system function in low-tem-
perature environments and to prevent frosting of the outdoor heat ex-
changer. This work may promote the worldwide adoption of electric
vehicles (EVs) and improve the comfort of EV passenger cabins in cold
climates.
No previous researcher has examined the heating performance of
the evaporator side secondary loop mobile heat pump air conditioning
system in cold climates. The frosting performance of this system was
tested in the present study in temperatures of 0 °C to −20 °C. The ex-
periment revealed the influence of waste heat recovery power, ambient
temperature, compressor speed, water flow rate, and wind speed on
system performance. The principle of the frosting process and the
performance variations of the whole system during the frosting process
were also analyzed. The heating and frosting performance of the tra-
ditional direct heat pump system was also tested for comparison with
the secondary loop system.
2. Experimental set-up
A schematic diagram of the comparison between the traditional
direct heat pump system and the secondary loop heat pump system is
shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1(a), the traditional direct heat pump
system has three heat exchangers. During heating, the refrigerant eva-
porates and absorbs heat in the outdoor heat exchanger, which directly
exchanges heat with the air side. It then passes through the separator
and compressor into the inner condenser to provide heat for the indoor
air.
In the proposed secondary loop heat pump system, the outdoor heat
W. Li, et al.
exchanger with direct heat exchange at the air side is replaced by a
chiller based on the traditional heat pump structure (Fig. 1(b)). A
parallel water loop on the other side of the chiller forms a secondary
loop system. The low outdoor air temperature in winter months creates
a substantial temperature difference with the refrigerant side. As a re-
sult, the refrigerant temperature at the outlet of the outdoor heat ex-
changer of the traditional heat pump air-conditioning system decreases
continuously. The evaporation temperature decreases continuously as
well while the heat transfer performance continuously decays. The
secondary loop system improves the refrigerant-air primary heat
transfer in the direct system in terms of the refrigerant-water–air sec-
ondary heat transfer.
A waste heat recovery device was added to the water circulation to
recover the residual heat of the battery and motor in the proposed
setup. For the sake of convenience, a PTC electric heater was used in the
test bench to simulate the waste heat recovery to provide this portion of
the heat resources. This waste heat increases the water temperature at
the outlet of the tank in the waterway, thus reducing the temperature
difference with the refrigerant side. The low-temperature heating per-
formance thus improves as the outlet temperature of refrigerant side of
the chiller increases.
A schematic diagram of the experimental bench is shown in Fig. 2.
R134a, the refrigerant used in most automotive air conditioners, was
used for the experiment. The experimental device is composed of an
electric compressor, inner condenser, chiller, outdoor heat exchanger,
electronic expansion valve, radiator, electric heater, flowmeter, and
other minor components. The test bench includes an evaporator
chamber and condenser chamber, each with its own wind tunnel. The
inner condenser and radiator were placed at the inlet of the wind
tunnel. Wind tunnels can also regulate air flow and be used to measure
the air inlet and outlet dry bulb temperature and wet bulb temperature.
The ambient conditions in this experiment were controlled by an
environmental control system consisting of air conditioning units,
electrical heaters, and humidity control equipment. The heat recovery
of the secondary loop system was controlled by a simulated PTC electric
heater. The compressor, heat exchanger, EXV, water pump, and PTC
parameters are listed in Table 1. Pressure and temperature sensors were
installed at the inlet and outlet of each heat exchanger to measure the
system parameters.
The heat transfer (Q ) can be calculated by measuring the inlet
temperature () and outlet temperature (tout ) of the wind tunnel. The
specific heat capacity of the refrigerant at constant pressure (Cp ) and
the air mass flow (qm ) can be calculated by Eq. (1). The input power of
the compressor (W ) is calculated by the current (I ) and voltage (U ) of
the stabilized power supply with Eq. (2). The COP of the system is
determined by Eq. (3). As per SAE standard J2765 [19], the input
power only includes the working input of the compressor and not the
power of the blower. The properties of refrigerant R134a were obtained
from REFPROP 9.0.
Q = qm Cp (t out tin ) (1)
W = IU (2)
COP = Q /W (3)
According to the measured parameter uncertainty calculation
method proposed by Moffat [10], the measured values (R ) and the di-
rect measured values ( X1 , X2 , X3 , …, Xn ) have the following functional
relationship:
R = R (X1, X2 , X3 , …, Xn ) (4)
The relative uncertainty (UR ) of the measured value can be obtained
by Eq. (5).
{ ( )}
1
n R 2 2
i=1 Xi
Xi
U =
R
R (5)
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Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615
According to the above equations and the calculation method and
precision of each measurement value, the relative uncertainty of heat
transfer and COP were determined to be ± 2.6% and ± 2.4%, respec-
tively.
The test conditions imposed throughout the experiment are shown
in Table 2. The waste heat recovery power and water flow parameters
only cover the secondary loop system. The traditional direct heat pump
system was also tested under the same working conditions. The indoor
air inlet temperature and volume were set to 0 °C and 360 m3/h, re-
spectivaly. Tests 1–12 were designed to study the effects of waste heat
recovery power and ambient temperature on system performance at 0
to −20 °C. The system under different ambient temperatures and three
kinds of waste heat recovery power were tested separately and com-
pared with the results of the direct system under the same conditions.
The influence of compressor speed on system performance and
compressor discharge temperature was investigated in Tests 13–22. Per
the focus on speed in these experiments, only the temperature points 0
°C and −20 °C were tested at this time. Tests 23–42 were conducted to
study the effects of water flow in the secondary loop system on water
temperature. Water temperature directly affects the heating of the
secondary loop heat pump system, making it an important parameter.
To explore the universal law relevant to this, water flow tests of 4–12 L/
min were conducted at 0 °C, −5 °C, −10 °C, and −20 °C, respectively.
Tests 43–46 were designed to investigate the effects of different outdoor
wind speeds (mimicking the braking and forward movement of the EV)
on system performance. The difference between the secondary loop and
direct system was compared at this time as well.
System frosting was assessed in Tests 47–49. The outdoor dry bulb
temperature and wet bulb temperature at this time were 2 °C and 1 °C,
respectively, and the indoor air inlet was 20 °C. The frosting effect
under different compressor speeds was tested with outdoor wind speed
and water flow of 2.2 m/s and 4 L/min, respectively. Low wind speed
and water flow represent the most severe frosting conditions.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Low-temperature performance analysis
Compared with domestic and commercial heat pump air condi-
tioners, the automotive heat pump air conditioning system has many
technical problems (e.g., limited layout space, excessive vibration, and
fluctuant and harsh operating conditions) [14]. Market feedback shows
that the thermal performance of low-temperature heat pumps devel-
oped by BMW, Audi, Toyota, Nissan, and other leading international
automobile brands in recent years do not meet the operating require-
ments for passenger vehicles in cold regions (−20 to 0 °C). The low-
temperature performance of the secondary loop heat pump air condi-
tioner was tested in this study within the range of −20 to 0 °C. Multiple
performance indexes were compared with the traditional direct system
and the influence of multi-factor operating parameters was analyzed
Table 1
Component parameters.
Components Information Remarks
Compressor 32 cc/r. 1000–8500 rpm Scroll compressor
Outside heat 688 × 350 × 16 (mm) Microchannel parallel
exchanger flow heat exchanger
Inner condenser Case 1:225 × 125 × 27
(mm)
Evaporator 232 × 239.5 × 38 (mm)
Radiator 645 × 340 × 12 (mm)
EXV for heating Ф9.2 mm Fully open in cooling
mode
EXV for cooling Ф5.5 mm
Pump 50 W, 0–23 m
PTC 0–6 kW
W. Li, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615

Table 2
Test conditions.
Test No. Outdoor Inlet Air Indoor Inlet Air Compressor Speed Outdoor Air Indoor Air Volume Waste Heat Recovery Water Flow
Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C) (rpm) Velocity (m/s) Flow Rate (m3/h) Power (W) (L/min)

1–3 0 0 6000 4.5 360 0, 600, 1200 12

4–6 −5 0 6000 4.5 360 0, 600, 1200 12
7–9 −10 0 6000 4.5 360 0, 600, 1200 12
10–12 −20 0 6000 4.5 360 0, 600, 1200 12
13–17 0 0 2000, 3000, 4000, 4.5 360 0 12
5000, 6000
18–22 −20 0 2000, 3000, 4000, 4.5 360 0 12
5000, 6000
23–27 0 0 6000 4.5 360 0 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
28–32 −5 0 6000 4.5 360 0 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
33–37 −10 0 6000 4.5 360 0 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
38–42 −20 0 6000 4.5 360 0 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
43–44 0 0 6000 2.2, 4.5 360 0 12
45–46 −20 0 6000 2.2, 4.5 360 0 12
47–49 (2, 1) 20 4000, 5000, 6000 2.2 360 0 4

accordingly.
3.1.1. Effect of waste heat recovery power
The main principle of the secondary loop heat pump air con-
ditioning system, in regards to heating performance improvement, is
the use of a secondary loop to recover the residual heat of the car
battery motor. This heat is then used for water circulation, improving
the water temperature and reducing the temperature difference be-
tween the water side and the refrigerant side in the chiller for enhanced
heat exchange. As shown in Fig. 3(a), the air side heat transfer of the
secondary loop heat pump system in the −20 to 0 °C environment
improved compared with the direct system in the absence of residual
heat recovery power (about 4.2%). The secondary loop uses water
circulation to reduce the temperature difference between the air side
and the refrigerant side. The heat transfer markedly improved in this
experiment as waste heat recovery power increased to 600 W and
1200 W. (It is worth noting that 1200 W of waste heat is easily achieved
in an actual driving scenario.) The heat transfer capacity of 600 W and
1200 W in the proposed system increased by 9.2% and 15.9%, re-
spectively, compared to the direct system.
As shown in Fig. 3(b), the COP of the secondary loop continuously
increased with improvement in the waste heat recovery power. In the
absence of residual heat recovery, the COP of the secondary loop system
was, on average, 4.2% lower than that of the direct system. When the
residual heat recovery power reached 600 W, the COP was basically
equal to that of the direct system. However, when the residual heat
recovery power reached 1200 W, the COP increased by 4.6% compared
with the direct system and by 8.6% compared to the case with no
residual heat recovery. To this effect, the waste heat recovery of the
secondary loop heat pump system significantly improves heat transfer
and COP in the low-temperature environment.
3.1.2. Effect of ambient temperature
Fig. 3 also shows that the COP and the air side heat transfer of the
heat pump system drop sharply as the ambient temperature decreases.
Compared with COP at −20 °C, the heat exchange decreases by nearly
40.4% and 21.2% at 0 °C. The improvement effect of waste heat re-
covery in the secondary loop also decreased with ambient temperature.
In the environments of −10 °C and −20 °C, waste heat recovery only
increased the heat exchange by about 8.6% and 5.5%, respectively. This
is mainly because there was less waste heat available for the battery
motor itself under extreme cold conditions, and the efficiency of waste
heat as-applied to water heating is affected by an ultra-low temperature
environment. The optimization effect was less significant at sub-zero
temperature than at 0 °C.
The water temperature is slightly above the ambient temperature in
the ultra-low temperature environments of −10 °C and −20 °C, which
results in heat leakage into the air. The secondary loop system waste
heat recovery mainly improves system performance by improving the
water temperature. As the variation gradients of saturation evaporation
pressure and density at ultra-low temperature are smaller than those at
0 °C, the increases in saturation pressure and density at the same
temperature were smaller in this experiment than those at 0 °C.
Therefore, the effect of waste heat recovery slightly degraded.
However, the system heat exchange and COP of the secondary loop heat
pump system in the −20 °C environment still reached 2174 W and

Fig. 3. (a) Heat transfer and (b) system COP under different ambient temperature and waste heat recovery power.

5
W. Li, et al.
1.81, respectively, which fully meets the heating requirements for EV
passenger cabins in cold climates.
According to the p-h diagram of system circulation (Fig. 4), when
other conditions are constant, the heat transfer area is larger when the
evaporation temperature of the system is lower – this results in better
heat transfer performance. The commonly used temperature range Δt
was used here to observe the impact of evaporation temperature at
various ambient temperatures:
t = ta te
A higher heat transfer temperature difference allows the system to
more effectively absorb heat from the environment. As the environment
temperature decreased from 0 °C to −20 °C, the heat transfer tem-
perature difference of the heat pump system was reduced from 9.8 °C to
6.1 °C. When the environment temperature is very low, the refrigerant
evaporation process from heat effect in the environment is very poor.
This is another reason that the ultra-low temperature environment
causes sharp attenuation in the system.
In addition, the evaporation temperature of the secondary loop
system was found to be 2.3 °C lower than that of direct system, which
could make the environment better transfer heat. The secondary loop
heat pump system has better low-temperature performance and is thus
better suited to EVs than the traditional direct system.
3.1.3. Effect of compressor speed
The influence of compressor speed on system performance is shown
in Fig. 5. The pressure in the system increases as compressor speed
increases; the pressure ratio also increases, which drives up the mass
flow rate of the system’s circulation and markedly improves its heat
exchange. In the 0 °C environment, the system heat exchange examined
here increased by 66.8% as the compressor speed increased from
2000 rpm to 6000 rpm. The heat transfer of the secondary loop system
at high speed is higher than that at low speed. However, the power
consumption of the compressor also increases as compressor speed in-
creases. This phenomenon a sharp decline in COP from 5.1 to about 2.2.
Selecting the proper right compressor speed is crucial to ensure the
optimal capacity and economy of the vehicle.
3.1.4. Discharge temperature
Compressor discharge temperature is an important factor affecting
the reliability and stability of automobile air conditioning and heating
systems. Recent studies have shown that the compressor discharge
temperature of EVs is 5–10 °C higher than that of conventional vehicles
on average, and even higher under certain extreme conditions (e.g.,
[11]. Excessive discharge temperature may have a number of adverse
consequences such as changes in lubricating oil, system blockage, and
compressor wear, all of which can harm the long-term operation of the
system.
The discharge temperature test results (Fig. 6) show that exhaust
temperature increased rapidly as the compressor rotation speed in-
creased. The secondary loop heat pump system pressure was relatively
small, so the corresponding compressor power consumption was rela-
tively low. The exhaust temperature of the compressor in the traditional
direct heat pump system is high, even exceeding 85 °C at 6000 rpm,
which is very harmful in terms of the long-term operation of the system.
The discharge temperature system of the secondary loop was found
here to be 4.8–19.4 °C lower than that of direct system, which ensures
the reliability and stability of the system operating in the −20 to 0 °C
environment.
3.2. Frost prevention performance analysis
3.2.1. Frost growth
The entire frost formation process in the outdoor heat exchanger of
the direct system and radiator of the secondary loop system was ob-
served and recorded by camera. The data gathered at this point directly
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Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615
reflects the heat exchanger frosting speed and frosting conditions. Fig. 7
shows the first 50 min of the frosting test. Frost developed rapidly on
the traditional micro-channel outdoor heat exchanger, covering
40%–50% of the area by the 10th minute. At the 20th minute, a dense
and thick frost layer had formed which continued to expand. At 30 min,
80%–90% of the first pass heat exchanger area was completely blocked
by frost. Finally, at 40–50 min, the whole area with high refrigerant
flow of the microchannel heat exchanger was completely blocked by
the frost layer; as mentioned above, this is the main area available for
heat exchange with the ambient air.
Frosting conditions were also compared under three different
compressor rotational speeds (Fig. 7(a), (b), and (c)). Higher com-
pressor rotational speed resulted in higher frosting speed, larger
frosting area, and worse frosting conditions overall. This is consistent
with any theoretical analysis of frost formation. When the compressor
was run at a high speed, the system refrigerant flow rate was higher and
the heat transfer was larger. The outdoor air temperature (air tem-
perature between the fins) was unchanged at this point. The tempera-
ture transfer from the fin of heat exchanger to the flat tube trended
toward the lower-surface-temperature flat tube. The system’s high
pressure increased and low pressure rapidly decreased. Therefore,
frosting was more intense at high speed than at low speed under the
same working conditions.
Fig. 7(d) shows a diagram of the frosting process on the secondary
loop system under the most severe conditions with maximum rotational
speed of 6000 rpm. In stark contrast to the first test, the radiator on the
secondary loop system did not show any significant frosting for 50 min
even under the worst conditions.
The frosting test was run longer, until 360 min, to further test the
limits of the proposed secondary loop system. The radiator began to
show visible frost at the 90th minute which then developed relatively
slowly. In approximately 210 min, a frost layer formed with observable
thickness and density. After 300 min, the radiator frost problem was
more severe and the frost layer was denser. The frosting range of the
secondary loop system did not expand; frost was only observed at the
radiator entrance. Conversely, the frost in the traditional direct system
spread rapidly from the local area to the whole heat exchanger.
Therefore, the surface frosting of the secondary loop heat pump system
is much better than that of the direct system.
3.2.2. Actual air volume and heat exchange
As discussed above, the effects of direct system frosting on the
surface of the heat exchanger were observed followed by analysis of its
Fig. 4. Log p-h diagrams of system states maintaining uniform compressor
speed under different outdoor ambient temperatures.
W. Li, et al.
Fig. 5. Heat transfer and system COP under different compressor speeds.
Fig. 6. Discharge temperature under different compressor speeds and ambient
temperatures.
influence on the system performance at 6000 rpm. In such cases, frost
on the surface of the heat exchanger blocks the flat tube and fin. As the
frost coverage increases, the heat transfer resistance and heat transfer
coefficient decrease.
Fig. 8(a) shows the curve of actual air volume variations between
secondary loop and direct systems during the frosting test. The actual
air volume of the outdoor heat exchanger in the traditional direct
system decreased by 12.7% in 30 min and dropped to 1400 m3/h in
50 min. However, the air volume of the secondary loop system did not
decrease significantly within 50 min. From about 90 min on, the air
volume of the radiator gradually decreased (by 8.9% at the 300-minute
mark). The decay rate of the air volume test results corresponds to the
observed surface frost.
The actual air volume of the heat exchanger is a direct factor af-
fecting the heat exchange. Fig. 8(b) shows where the heat exchange test
result is similar to the air volume result. The air side heat transfer of
traditional direct heat pump decreased by more than 30% within
50 min on different frosting schedules. However, the heat transfer in the
secondary loop system showed basically no attenuation in 2 h, followed
by a slow decay in 5 h.
Rapid air volume attenuation in the traditional heat pump system
causes an increase in the temperature difference between the re-
frigerant side and air side, which in turn encourages frost to form and
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Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615
expand. There is a vicious circle between frost, air volume attenuation,
and refrigerant/air temperature difference. The inlet and outlet tem-
peratures of the outdoor heat exchanger and radiator were collected
throughout the frosting test as shown in Fig. 9. The inlet and outlet
temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger decreased by 17.5 °C within
50 min. The temperature difference between the refrigerant side and
the air side increased due to the constant air temperature of the external
environment. Again, this is a vicious cycle in which frost and tem-
perature increases reinforce each other.
The secondary loop heat pump system showed better anti-frost
performance in the brief period of testing time, as wind speed did not
significantly decrease. There also was no significant decrease in the
temperature of the radiator inlet or outlet over even a long period of
time, so there was no increase in external frost driving force and no
rapid performance degradation within 5 h. The effects of frosting also
differed due to different media in the tank of the traditional micro-
channel heat exchanger and the secondary loop.
A CCD camera was used to take a close shot of the frost layer as
shown in Fig. 10. Compared with the traditional microchannel heat
exchanger, the surface temperature of the flat tube of the radiator is
low. The temperature gradient on the fin was thus relatively small and
the frost layer was thin and uniform. After defrosting on the surface of
the radiator, water droplets were evenly distributed on the fin and flat
tube rather than accumulating on the root of the fin and flat tube as in
the micro-channel heat exchanger. Thus, influence on subsequent heat
transfer was slight. This is another reason why the secondary loop has
better frost resistance than the direct system.
3.2.3. Discharge pressure
The compressor discharge pressure change curve drawn based on
the frosting process of the two systems is shown in Fig. 11. Similar to
the heat transfer result, the exhaust pressure of the secondary loop heat
pump system remained stable for 2 h; it was slowly attenuated from 2 to
5 h. The direct system, by contrast, decayed sharply within 30 min. As
the highest pressure in the whole refrigerant cycle, a reduction in ex-
haust pressure represents a decrease in the efficiency of the system. As
is also shown in Fig. 4, when the discharge pressure in the direct system
dropped, the condensation pressure and temperature in the condensing
process of the heat exchanger decreased. In practice, this not only re-
duces the heat transfer efficiency of the system, but also fails to su-
percool the condenser outlet. As a result, the EXV work is unfavorable –
the system does not function properly and the EXV service life is
truncated. In this test, the secondary loop system ensured stable exhaust
pressure in cold working conditions. This further characterizes the re-
latively small degree of slow-moving frost.
3.2.4. Flow distribution uniformity
The frosting area of the heat exchanger is mainly determined by the
uniformity of the heat exchanger flow distribution. The flow distribu-
tion of the outdoor heat exchanger and radiator in the frosting process
was photographed with an infrared thermal imager as shown in Fig. 12.
The flow distribution uniformity throughout this process is reflected in
the figure by changes in color depth. As shown in Fig. 12(a), the re-
frigerant uniformity in the outdoor heat exchanger of the traditional
direct system was very poor in this test. The outdoor heat exchanger is a
two-process heat exchanger, so at the junction of the two processes,
gravity inevitably leads to greater accumulation of refrigerant in the
lower part of the component. After the second process, there was less
refrigerant in the upper part. The loss of refrigerant resulted in a large
area of heat transfer becoming ineffective.
The attenuation of heat transfer was intensified in the case of severe
frost. The radiator used in the secondary loop is a single-process heat
exchanger, as shown in Fig. 12(b). The flow distribution of this tank is
very uniform, so its heat exchange process was more efficient
throughout the test. The blue shading in the figure indicates a very
small frost area indicative of favorable heat transfer performance and
W. Li, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615

0 min 10 min 20 min 30 min 40 min 50 min

a) Direct system for 4000 rpm

b) Direct system for 5000 rpm

c) Direct system for 6000 rpm

d) Secondary loop for 6000 rpm

90 min 150 min 210 min 300 min 360 min

e) Secondary loop for 6000 rpm

Fig. 7. Comparison of frosting progress.

anti-frost capability.
The above analysis of frosting performance was carried out under
the most severe conditions possible, when the secondary loop water
flow was only 4 L/min. This revealed the performance degradation of
the secondary loop under uniform frosting conditions. Frosting in the
secondary loop heat pump system was also observed under different
water flow rates, ambient temperatures, and humidity conditions for
comparison with the direct system. The results are shown in Table 3.
The frost resistance of the secondary loop system continuously im-
proved as water flow increased. When the water flow was 12 L/min, the
secondary loop heat pump did not frost at lower ambient temperatures
or higher air humidity. It is easy to maintain 12 L/min water flow under
real-world driving conditions. Therefore, the frost resistance of the
secondary loop heat pump system in an actual automobile air con-
ditioning system would be much stronger than that of the traditional
heat pump.

Fig. 8. Comparison of (a) actual air volume and (b) heat transfer of direct and secondary loop system during frosting.

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W. Li, et al.
Fig. 9. Changes in inlet and outlet temperature of radiator and outdoor heat
exchanger during frosting.
4. Conclusion
This study centered on the heating and anti-frost performance of an
EV secondary loop low-temperature heat pump air conditioning system.
The effects of waste heat recovery power, ambient temperature, com-
pressor speed, water flow rate, and wind speed on system performance
were assessed in temperatures ranging from −20 °C to 0 °C. The per-
formance of the system was also compared with that of the traditional
direct heat pump system under the same working conditions.
The results show that heat transfer and COP decrease sharply as
ambient temperature decreases. Increasing the speed of the compressor
can increase the heat transfer, but reduces the COP of the system.
Increase in the waste heat recovery power and water flow in the sec-
ondary loop cause both the heat transfer and COP of the system to in-
crease. The low-temperature performance of this system is markedly
better than that of the traditional direct system. This is mainly because
the water temperature in the secondary loop is increased, the tem-
perature difference between the two sides of the chiller is reduced, and
the heat transfer effect is optimized in the proposed system.
In addition, the discharge temperature of the secondary loop heat
pump system was found to be lower than that of the direct system. The
system performance appears to not attenuate when the wind speed is
(a) Outdoor heat exchanger in direct system
(b) Radiator in secondary loop system
Fig. 10. Comparison of frost layers.
9
Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615
Fig. 11. Comparison of discharge pressure during frosting.
low, which ensures reliable and efficient operation of the secondary
loop low-temperature heat pump air conditioning system in −20 to 0
°C environments.
The parameters and performance of the complete frosting process of
the secondary loop and the direct system were also compared in this
study. The results show that frosting of the traditional system grows
increasingly severe as compressor speed increases. Under the worst
frosting conditions tested here, the traditional heat pump system was
covered in a very thick layer of frost within 30 min and the actual air
volume and system performance declined rapidly. Within 50 min, the
outdoor heat exchanger of the direct system was completely blocked by
frost and could not be operated. The secondary loop heat pump system
did not show any significant frost for 50 min; it took 210 min for a
visible frost layer to form. The performance of the system was un-
attenuated for 2 h and slowly attenuated up to 5 h.
The radiator flow distribution uniformity of the secondary loop was
also found to be significantly better than that of the outdoor heat ex-
changer of the direct system. The frost layer was uniform and thin, and
no residual water accumulated at the root of the fin. No frosting oc-
curred in the secondary loop when the water flow was 12 L/min under
any of the frosting conditions imposed on the direct system. The sec-
ondary loop low-temperature heat pump air conditioning system thus
meets the normal usage requirements of EVs in cold environments.
W. Li, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 182 (2021) 115615

Fig. 12. Infrared thermal image for (a) outdoor heat exchanger and (b) radiator during frosting.

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