Question

A heat pump receives heat from a lake that has an average wintertime temperature of 6o C and supplies heat into a house having an average temperature of 25o C. (a) If the house loses heat to the atmosphere at the rate of 60,000 kJ/h, determine the minimum power supplied to the heat pump (in kW) that can maintain the interior temperature of the house at 25o C. (b) Suppose the heat pump absorbs energy from

Answer 1

a)
`\dot W = 1.062\,kW`

Step-by-step explanation:

a) Let consider that heat pump is reversible, so that the Coefficient of Performance is:

`COP_(HP) = (T_(H))/(T_(H)-T_(L))`

`COP_(HP) = (298.15\,K)/(298.15\,K-279.15\,K)`

`COP_(HP) = 15.692`

The minimum heat received by the house must be equal to the heat lost to keep the average temperature constant. Hence:

`\dot Q_(H) = 60000\,(kJ)/(h)`

The minimum power supplied to the heat pump is:

`\dot W = (\dot Q_(H))/(COP)`

`\dot W = (\left(60000\,(kJ)/(h) \right)\cdot \left((1\,h)/(3600\,s) \right))/(15.692)`

`\dot W = 1.062\,kW`