Thermoeconomic analysis of a new ejector boosted hybrid heat pump (EBHP) and comparison with three conventional types of heat pumps

Highlights: • An ejector boosted hybrid heat pump is compared with three other types of heat pumps. • Thermoeconomic variables are used to analyze the economic performance of each component. • For low temperature lifts, the absorption heat pump has lower unit product cost. • As the temperature of upgraded heat increases, the EBHP shows better performance. • The effect of operating parameters on the product cost of the systems is investigated. -- Abstract: Employing the systems which make use of waste heat for upgrading its temperature is of great importance for their energy saving potential. In this research, the thermoeconomic analysis of a novel ejector boosted hybrid heat pump (EBHP) is evaluated and compared with three other types of heat pumps namely the absorption, compression, and absorption/compression heat pumps. The analysis uses the exergy costing method that combines the exergy concept with the economic analysis to evaluate the unit cost of final product at the wide operating range. The results reveal that the advantages of the proposed heat pump from the thermoeconomic view point are clear in higher upgraded temperatures. A detailed analysis of the different thermoeconomic variables is also conducted and the contributions of each component in the overall cost of the heat pumps are evaluated. In addition, effects of various decision variables on the economic performance of the systems are studied. The investigations demonstrate that the concentration of ammonia in hybrid heat pumps and the pinch point temperature difference in all of the studied heat pumps affect the final unit product cost of the systems considerably.