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Renewable Thermal Area Laboratory

The Renewable Thermal Area has more than 300 m² dedicated to laboratories for testing heat pump equipment and their different components. It is equipped with three independent water loops operating at temperatures ranging from 5 °C to 60 °C, which can be configured to meet specific testing requirements. The facilities are prepared to work with flammable refrigerants such as hydrocarbons or HFOs.

Below are the different test benches currently available for equipment testing:

Climatic chambers for the characterization of heat pump equipment
  • 2 climatic chambers for the characterization of heat pumps up to 30 kW
  • 1 climatic chamber for the characterization of heat pumps up to 40 kW
  • 1 climatic chamber for the characterization of heat pumps up to 5 kW
  • Characterization of air‑to‑air and air‑to‑water equipment
  • Temperature and humidity control with high‑precision regulation
  • Wind tunnel for measuring the airflow rate in air‑to‑water heat pumps
Calorimeter for compressor characterization
  • Control of condensation pressure, evaporation pressure, and superheating 
  • Suitable for testing two‑stage and injection compressors 
  • Mass‑flow measurement using calorimetric balance in evaporators and Coriolis meters, with discrepancies below 1% 
  • Compressor characterization in the power range from 2 kW to 40 kW
Compressor test benches for durability testing
  • Gas-cycle based test benches. 
  • They allow setting the discharge pressure, suction pressure, and suction temperature of the compressor. 
  • One of the benches is equipped with a Coriolis meter for mass‑flow measurement.
Water loops for the characterization of water‑to‑water and air‑to‑water equipment
  • Hot‑water loop at 60 °C and cold‑water loop at 10 °C 
  • Testing capacity for heat pumps with heating outputs of up to 50 kW