Within this work a compact automotive heat pump module prototype with the natural refrigerant R290 (propane) is presented. R290 is non-toxic, has a low global warming potential (GWP) of 3, is environmentally friendly and is not affected by PFAS restrictions. Furthermore, R290 has a superior efficiency compared to refrigerants like R1234yf & R134a, which makes it a promising alternative. A test setup is built to evaluate the performance of the prototype HP-module, which is charged with approx. 190g of refrigerant and reaches a cooling/heating capacity of approx. 11kW/16kW at the investigated conditions. In addition, a 1-D numerical tool for the calculation of steady state conditions is implemented in MATLAB/Simscape and validated by time-averaged test data. The objective of the numerical tool is to be able to quickly predict the pressure levels within the refrigerant loop in advance to testing, as the pressure levels of the HP-module are not directly controlled, but result from the operating conditions (i.e., eCC speed, eXV position, coolant loop volume flow rates and inlet temperatures).
