Development of an air source heat pump driven by a diesel engine for melting snow on railroad tracks

To save the running costs of melting snow by sprinkling heated water, a heat pump was conceived and constructed. Various kinds of performance experiments were conducted in winter at the Maibara station precincts on the Tokaido Shinkansen railroad. The TCOP of the heat pump was found to be 2.73 in a mild climate of about 2°C. When the coil surface of the air heat exchanger is frosted, the TCOP drops to 1.71 on account of the thermal output consumed for the defrost operation. Thus it is demonstrated that the hear pump can cut energy expenses as compared with a conventional boiler heating system