Comparative study of impact of compressor speed on system performance subject to micro-gravity

Vapor compression heat pump has good prospects in future large-scale spacecraft thermal control technology. Compressor is a key component in vapor compression heat pump. It is essential to study its adaptability under micro-gravity. In this paper, an experimental system was built up to test the performance of inverted compressor subjected to micro-gravity. The performance of compressor upright and inverted was compared. The influence of compressor speed on the performance of vapor compression heat pump was investigated. The results showed that the inverted compressor could be considered gravity-independent because of normal operation. Compressor discharge temperature and power increased with compressor speed. However, the COP(Coefficient of Performance) was less than that of compressor upright. The maximum COP obtained with upright and inverted compressor were 8.4 and 7.6, respectively. The experiment subject to micro-gravity of vapor compressor heat pump provides an experimental basis and lays foundation for future space applications.