Importance of Buffer Tank for Air Source Heat Pump

Many users know the water tank of water heater, but not many of them understand buffer tank, so what does exactly the buffer tank of air source heat pump do? Why install a buffer tank? Next let's get to know more details about this.

In the absence of a buffer tank, the air source heat pump unit would start and stop frequently. Due to the limited amount of water in the circulating pipeline, the circulating water can easily reach the set temperature in a short time, and the unit stops working randomly. Then the circulating water will cool down rapidly, so the water temperature will reach the start-up condition of the heat pump in a short time, leading to the machine start-up again. Such frequent start-up will greatly increase the load of the unit, and reduce its service life; because the power consumption of the heat pump reaches a peak at start-up, it will also cause a waste of electricity. With the buffer tank, the temperature of circulating water changes more smoothly and slowly, and the number of start-up and shutdown naturally decreases a lot, effectively prolonging the service life of heat pump.

Buffer tank allows the heat pump system to clean itself more thoroughly and prevent the system from getting clogged. There are a lot of impurities in our system. These impurities will accumulate slowly to the bottom of the buffer tank through circulation. When passing through the Y-type strainer, the water quality of the pump will get better, thus reducing the cleaning work of the Y-type strainer.

Efficient defrosting - with a buffer tank, the defrosting time is reduced. When the air source heat pump works in cold weather, the heat pump will frost. Defrosting is a problem to the indoor temperature. Because the unit needs to consume heat in the pipeline during reverse cooling, and in the absence of a buffer tank, the water in the water system is less, resulting in a longer defrosting time, which will cause the water temperature in the pipeline to be too low. Thus, the defrosting effect is not ideal. If a buffer tank is installed, the defrosting process can be completed in a short time because there is a certain amount of heat energy in the tank, thus avoiding the fluctuation of indoor temperature caused by the defrosting of the unit, which is of great significance for stabilizing the terminal effect of the system.

A buffer tank can ensure the smooth flow of water in the heat pump system so that it can complete automatic exhaust, and avoid error alarm. We all know that in the return water system, circulating water enters from the upper part of the tank and discharges from the lower part, so that the gas in the water accumulates at the upper space of the tank. The pressure in the closed system will automatically force the gas to be discharged from the upper exhaust valve, so there will be no gas in the inlet of the water tank which is connected to the outlet of the buffer tank. Thus, the gas will not be brought into the heat pump system, which protects the impeller of the water pump and ensures the normal operation of the air source heat pump. If there is no buffer tank, it is very easy to cause switch failure and high-voltage alarm because of the presence of gas.

All in all, buffer tank is an important part of the air source heat pump system. Choosing a buffer tank with appropriate capacity according to the actual situation has many advantages. Therefore, some people regards it as an " energy storage tank" based on its functions.