Performance analysis of one-way oscillating flow cycle heat pump

•distributions of losses in one-way oscillating flow cycle heat pump were obtained.•heat exchanger’s incomplete heat transfer conduction energy loss is the main loss.•losses in heat exchangers are much higher than those in regenerator.•up to 89.48% of Carnot efficiency can be achieved at room temperature.•main structural parameters on efficiency are revealed. One-way oscillating flow cycle heat pump offers potential benefits including temperature glide heat additions and high efficiency. However, effects of structural parameters on performance and the distributions of relevant losses have not been revealed because it is a novel cooling and heating technology. To address this, a one-dimensional computational fluid dynamic model with considering the heat transfer and flow friction losses is developed. At conditions of the upper cooling temperature of 243 K ∼ 273 K and heating temperature of 318 K, the simulation results reveal that the incomplete heat transfer conduction energy losses in heat exchangers are the main loss, and the losses in heat exchangers are much higher than those in regenerator. The comparisons between two novel heat pumps with temperature glide heat additions and isothermal heat additions respectively demonstrate that temperature glide heat additions can significantly reduce the incomplete heat transfer conduction energy losses in heat exchangers. The relative Carnot efficiencies of 83.27 % − 89.48 % are achieved in the novel heat pump. Analysis of effects of structural parameters on performance reveals that the cold heat exchanger’s tube diameter and the regenerator’s porosity are the main structural parameters that affects the relative Carnot efficiency. These findings offer insightful knowledge about one-way oscillating flow cycle heat pump, and demonstrate that this heat pump has huge potential as an alternative to vapor compression for cooling and heating.