An energy-saving optimization operation strategy based on maintaining the high-energy-efficiency operation of chillers is proposed to address the prevalent issue of increased energy consumption in the application of cold-storage technology for economic optimization in the current air-conditioning industry. This strategy involves the storage and release of cooling using small cold-storage tanks to actively control the load ratio of the water chiller, thus ensuring that the unit operates efficiently for an extended period to achieve energy savings. A physical model of the air-conditioning system is established and simulated using operational data from the central air-conditioning system of a hospital. Performance curves of the water chiller under different environmental conditions are obtained to accurately depict the high-efficiency operational states of the unit at each moment. On a typical day with a peak cooling load of 9 979 kW, using an active chilled-water storage system, as compared with using the conventional chiller operation strategy without active storage, can reduce 2 777 kW·h of daily electricity consumption, which constitutes 6.0% of the daily electricity usage of the central air-conditioning system. Over the entire cooling season, this approach can save 2.35% of the total electricity consumption of the central air-conditioning system and 4.45% of the electricity consumption of the chiller.

Achieving low-carbon combined cooling and heating supply in distributed areas away from centralized cooling and heating networks is highly significant in the context of carbon neutrality. This study proposes a combined cooling and heating system based on an absorption heat pump, which uses a variety of clean and renewable energies, such as solar heat, geothermal, waste heat, biomass, and air-source energy, to achieve the combined cooling and heating in a wide temperature range from -20 ℃ to 90 ℃. Such systems are suitable for distributed areas, such as villages, cities, and industrial parks. The system model was constructed based on Aspen, and a prototype was developed. The prototype uses a vacuum tube collector to capture solar thermal energy and introduces natural gas as a supplementary heat source to balance fluctuations of solar energy. Multiple sets of indoor heating and cooling terminals can be driven through medium circulation and valve switching using a single set of absorption heat pumps and outdoor units. The environmental test of the prototype was performed in Jinan, and the solar thermal ratio reached 35% during the testing period. An all-weather stable energy supply was achieved by proportional control of natural gas. Moreover, a wide range of concentration adjustments was achieved by controlling the liquid level in the solution tank, enabling efficient system operation in a wider temperature range. The coefficient of performance (COP) of cooling reached 0.30-0.43 at -20 ℃ and 0.70-0.78 at 7 ℃, with cooling water temperatures varying from 30 ℃ to 20 ℃; the COP of heating reached 1.40-1.90 at 45 ℃ and 1.35-1.56 at 80 ℃, with evaporation temperature varying from -15 ℃ to 20 ℃. The study results demonstrated that introducing solar thermal energy and ambient energy recovery increased the fraction of renewable energy in the system to over 50%. Compared with the traditional method of gas furnace plus air conditioning, the annual operating cost and carbon emissions of the proposed system were reduced by over 54.3% and 44%, respectively, which has significant application potential.

Microencapsulation technology based on sodium alginate hydrogels can be used to optimize freezing and rewarming procedures and to reduce cryo-damage to cells and tissues. This study first observed the morphology of oocytes of sodium alginate hydrogels at different volume fractions (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%) to determine the safe concentration for their encapsulation. Second, the crystallization temperature and crystallization behavior of sodium alginate hydrogels with different volume fractions were systematically investigated using cryo-microscopy, and the morphology and crystallization of oocytes were compared when they were cooled down/retempered in the base solution (cryoprotectant solution). Finally, the freezing effects of the sodium alginate antifreeze hydrogel-encapsulated oocytes prepared by solvent replacement and physical mixing were compared. The results revealed that oocytes maintained their overall morphology and volume better in sodium alginate gels at volume fractions of 0.5% and 1.0%. Furthermore, oocytes in both the 1.0% sodium alginate group and the cryoprotectant solution group of 12.5% DMSO + 12.5% EG + 0.5 mol/L trehalose did not produce intracellular ice during the cooling process. Additionally, compared with the physical mixture, oocytes in the hydrogel solvent replacement group did not produce intracellular ice during the cooling process, and the cells retained their normal morphology after rewarming.

The two-phase flow pattern of hydrocarbon working fluids on the shell side of a helically baffled heat exchanger for liquefied natural gas determines its heat transfer performance. This study tested the two-phase flow patterns of propane and ethane/propane mixtures on the shell side of a helically baffled heat exchanger using a visualization experimental method. The test results demonstrated that with the increase in vapor quality, the experimental observations sequentially included stratified flow, stratified-spray flow, and spray flow; as the mass flux of propane increased from 20 kg/(m²·s) to 40 kg/(m²·s), the transition vapor quality from stratified flow to stratified-spray flow decreased from 0.7 to 0.3, while the transition vapor quality from stratified-spray flow to spray flow decreased from approximately 1 to 0.7; when the proportion of ethane increased from 0 to 50%, the transition vapor quality from stratified flow to stratified-spray flow increased from 0.30-0.45 to 0.43-0.55, while the transition vapor quality from stratified-spray flow to spray flow increased from 0.69-0.85 to 0.83-close to 1. The existing flow pattern map for water-air mixtures was inadequate for predicting the flow patterns of hydrocarbon working fluids. A new set of flow pattern transition criteria was established with prediction deviations of approximately 6.5%, 5.5%, and 4.2% for the experimental stratified flow, stratified-spray flow, and spray flow, respectively.

Drying of Lentinus edodes is an effective method to prevent problems such as rotting and browning. During the drying process, the loading density has a significant impact on system performance and drying quality. Based on a newly designed quasi-two-stage enhanced vapor injection heat pump closed drying system, the effects of different loading densities of Lentinus edodes on moisture ratio, drying rate, coefficient of performance of the system (COP_sys), specific moisture extraction rate (SMER), drying capacity per unit energy consumption, and rehydration ratio were experimentally investigated. The results showed that when the drying air supply temperature was 55 ℃ and the circulating air volume was 580 m³/h, the drying rate of Lentinus edodes decreased gradually with the loading density in the drying chamber, from 1.5 kg/m² to 3.0 kg/m². Meanwhile, the average COP_sys, average SMER, drying capacity per unit energy consumption, and rehydration ratio increased first and then decreased. When the loading density was 2.4 kg/m², the average SMER, drying capacity per unit energy consumption, and rehydration ratio reached the maximum values of 0.320 kg/(kW·h), 0.391 kg/(kW·h), and 3.6, respectively. When the loading density was 2.4 kg/m², the average COP_sys reached its maximum of 4.22.

Motor cooling is critical for ensuring the high reliability of linear compressors. This study established a linear oscillating motor loss model based on experimental operating parameters and temperatures. The trends of the copper loss, iron core loss, and eddy current loss of the motor with temperature were analyzed, coupled with a three-dimensional flow field model of the linear compressor to analyze the temperature distribution characteristics of the motor coils and permanent magnets under different operating conditions. The research results demonstrated that, for every 0.2 g/s increase in mass flow rate, the motor temperature can be reduced by 4-20 ℃, and the variance of temperature distribution decreases by 0.5-1.2 under the same intake temperature. Furthermore, for every 5 ℃ decrease in intake temperature, the motor temperature decreases by 4-6 ℃ under the same mass flow rate. The maximum temperature difference of the permanent magnet was 7.3 ℃ at a mass flow rate of 0.6 g/s and 6.9 ℃ at a mass flow rate of 1.4 g/s. The optimized intake structure reduced the variance of motor temperature distribution by 5.521, the highest temperature decreased by 4.1 ℃, and the maximum temperature difference decreased by 4.55 ℃.

This study employed a validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to investigate the influences of the mixer length and diffuser angle on the ejector pressure-recovery performance. The results demonstrated that an optimal combination of mixer length and diffuser angle exists at which the ejector has the highest performance. The effects of these two geometrical parameters on the ejector performance were highly consistent. When the mixer length was sufficiently long, the mixing was sufficient, and the mixed flow was not subjected to separation during pressure recovery. Under these circumstances, the effect of the diffuser angle on the ejector performance was relatively trivial, varying between 0.5° and 3°. However, when the mixer length was short, the flow was prone to turbulent losses near the diffuser wall. In this case, the effect of the diffuser angle was significant. In addition, the optimal geometries were affected by the operating conditions. The optimal mixer length increased as the nozzle inlet pressure and temperature decreased, whereas the optimal diffuser angle decreased. Under the conditions and nozzle configuration investigated in this study, the optimal mixer length was approximately 38 mm and the optimal diffuser cone half angle was between 1° and 1.5°.

The air-source heat pump capillary radiant floor heating system directly heats the floor using a refrigerant as the heat transfer fluid, which employs a simple system and promotes good heat transfer. This study developed an experimental device for capillary floor radiant heating with an air-source heat pump, and a heating experiment with parallel capillary floor radiant terminal was conducted at different outdoor ambient temperatures. The experimental results demonstrate that a longer time is required for the temperature of the capillary floor radiation terminal to reach steady as the outdoor temperature decreases. When the outdoor temperature was -5 ℃, the required time was 120 min. The temperature difference between the discharge inlet end and the condenser outlet end on the same capillary wall was large. The temperature difference on the capillary wall reached 6.40 ℃, while that on the surface of the 20 mm-thick cement floor reached 4.20 ℃. Conversely, the vertical temperature difference from the capillary wall to the cement floor surface was small, not exceeding 0.40 ℃, and the vertical heat transfer effect of the floor was good. The temperature difference at the same position of different capillaries was within 0.80 ℃, and the temperature uniformity was good. When the outdoor temperature was -5 ℃, the heating coefficient of performance of the unit reached 4.61 with good heating performance.

The application of latent thermal energy storage with heat pumps has been extensively studied in recent years. The combination of phase change heat storage and a heat pump can improve the performance of the heat pump and the utilization of renewable energy; however, further cost reduction and efficiency increase are required. Therefore, this study reviews the progress of heat pumps coupled with solid-liquid phase change materials and summarizes the applicable conditions and characterization methods for phase change materials applied to heat pumps. The optimization approaches for the performance of the heat pump system are summarized, including the selection and improvement of phase change materials, the optimal setting of the heat exchanger, and the dynamic optimization control strategy of the system. The outstanding performance of heat pumps with cascade heat storage in improving the supply-side comfort and utilization rate of renewable energy indicates the broad prospect of cascade heat storage being applied to heat pump energy storage systems. Herein, mixed, non-eutectic phase change materials are proposed as alternative materials for cascade heat storage. Notably, summarizing and developing new methods for adjusting the thermophysical properties of phase change materials for energy storage is necessary for adapting the selection and improvement of phase change materials to the optimization of the thermodynamic cycle of cascade heat storage devices and further improving the heating decarbonization ability of latent heat storage heat pumps.

Heat pump technology is an energy-saving solution that could potentially combat global warming and reduce carbon emissions. Industrial heat pumps recover waste heat from the heating process to heat water or air, thereby reducing electricity consumption and carbon emissions. Industrial heat pumps are energy-saving, environmentally friendly, and provide stable heating. They have been widely used at all stages of production and life. This study analyzes the compressor types and characteristics of domestic and international high-temperature heat pumps (HTHP) that recover industrial waste heat and analyzes their application and technical status with a focus on twin-screw and centrifugal compressors. Twin-screw heat pump compressors should adopt an open structure when the evaporation temperature is high, and high-speed and oil-free design can be used when the condensation temperature is high. In addition, centrifugal heat pump compressors should prioritize highly efficient impellers, high-temperature-resistant motors, and oil-free lubricated bearings. Screw steam compressors need to solve the problems of rotor thermal deformation and shaft seal, and target for large temperature lifts.