Heat Pump Refrigerant Flow Diagram

The refrigerant flows through a closed system of refrigeration lines between the outdoor and the indoor unit.

Heat pump refrigerant flow diagram.

The diagram below shows a heat pump piping layout. Click back and forth between buttons 2 and 3 and note how the discharge from the compressor is diverted to different coils in each mode. Heat pumps are designed to move thermal energy opposite to the direction of spontaneous heat flow by absorbing heat from a cold area and releasing it to a warmer one. Thermodynamic heat pump cycles or refrigeration cycles are the conceptual and mathematical models for heat pump air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

A heat pump can switch from air condition mode to heat mode by reversing the refrigeration cycle making the outside coil function as the evaporator and the indoor coil as the condenser. You can also view the 2 modes showing the refrigerant states with buttons 4 and 5. In two phase flow systems a heat pump is a device that transfers energy from a heat source to a destination called a heat sink. Thanks to a reversing valve a heat pump can change the flow of refrigerant and either heat or cool a home.

Air is blown over an evaporator coil transferring heat energy from the air to the refrigerant. A heat pump is a mechanical system that allows for the transmission of heat from one location the source at a lower temperature to another location the sink or heat sink at a higher temperature.