Vol. 36 (2026): Volumen 36
Artículos de Investigación

Experimental study of a water source heat pump (WSHP): evaluation of R32 refrigerant as a direct replacement for R410A

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  • Juan Manuel Belman Flores,
  • Vicente Pérez García,
  • María Fernanda Meza Enríquez,
  • Luiz Machado
Juan Manuel Belman Flores
Universidad de Guanajuato
Vicente Pérez García
Universidad de Guanajuato
María Fernanda Meza Enríquez
Universidad de Guanajuato
Luiz Machado
UFMG
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15174/au.2026.4900

Published 2026-03-18

How to Cite

Belman Flores, J. M., Pérez García, V., Meza Enríquez, M. F., & Machado, L. (2026). Experimental study of a water source heat pump (WSHP): evaluation of R32 refrigerant as a direct replacement for R410A. Acta Universitaria, 36, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.15174/au.2026.4900

Copyright (c) 2026 Juan Manuel Belman Flores, Vicente Pérez García, María Fernanda Meza Enríquez, Luiz Machado

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The energy performance of a water-source heat pump in heating mode was experimentally evaluated using R32 as a direct replacement for R410A. For this purpose, an experimental bench was constructed to simulate the operating conditions of the water source (water-glycol mixture) flow rate and temperature, as well as the set-point condition (space-heating temperature). These conditions expand on the existing literature, positioning R32 as a viable option in the short- and medium-term. The results indicated that R32 outperformed R410A, achieving COP increases of up to 40%. For set-point temperatures of 31 °C and 28 °C, the pump achieved 37% energy savings with R32 compared to R410A. Finally, a TEWI analysis was performed, where R32 showed an 84.2% reduction in indirect emissions due to lower energy consumption.

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