Analysis of the Development Prospects of Heat Pump Technology in the Chinese Market

Heat pumps started early in China. In the 1950s, some scholars at Tianjin University began researching heat pumps. Applications of heat pumps in HVAC systems began in the 1960s. For example, starting in 1963, the original East China Architectural Design Institute and Shanghai Refrigeration Plant began developing heat pump air conditioners; in 1965, Shanghai Refrigerator Plant developed China's first heat pump window air conditioner with a heating capacity of 3720 kW, the CKT-3A model. In 1965, Tianjin University and Tianjin Refrigeration Plant developed the country's first water-cooledheat pump air conditioning unit. In 1966, they collaborated with the Railway Ministry's Shijiazhuang Vehicle Research Institute to conduct air-to-air heat pump tests for passenger trains. In 1966, the original Harbin Architectural Engineering Institute and Harbin Air Conditioning Plant successfully developed the LHR-20 constant temperature and humidity heat pump air conditioning unit, which proposed a new process for using waste heat from condensation for secondary heating in temperature and humidity control air conditioning units. However, due to the unique nature of energy prices in China and several other influencing factors, the application and development of heat pump air conditioning in China has always been slow. It was not until the late 1970s that opportunities for the development and application of heat pump air conditioning emerged again. From the early 1980sto the late 1990s, a wave of heat pumps swept through China's HVAC field.