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Heat Pump Defrost Cycle (2D)

Interactive 2D heat pump defrost simulator: real Magnus-Tetens psychrometrics drive vapor deposition onto a fin cross-section, fin-gap ice bridging self-limits growth by choking airflow, and a latent-heat energy balance times the reverse-cycle defrost -- a genuinely distinct computation from the 3D twin's single approach-temperature curve.

Energy & Thermodynamics2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This 2D companion to the 3D heat pump defrost simulator replaces its single hand-fitted frost-growth curve with real psychrometrics: Magnus-Tetens saturation vapor pressure over water and over ice sets exactly how much moisture the outdoor air can deposit onto a below-freezing fin, and that deposition genuinely self-limits as the growing frost layer bridges the gaps between fins and chokes the very airflow that feeds it — an effect kept separate here from the evaporator-temperature depression that drives the compressor's coefficient of performance down. Melting is likewise a real latent-heat energy balance (ice mass times the heat of fusion, divided by the hot-gas defrost power) rather than a fixed mm-per-second rate, so a thicker frost layer takes a proportionally longer defrost. Dial in the weather and the defrost trigger to watch the fin cross-section frost over, the airflow gauge choke down, and the refrigerant loop reverse for a physically time-scaled defrost.

⚙ Under the hood

Real Magnus-Tetens psychrometrics drive vapor deposition onto a fin cross-section, a fin-gap airflow-blockage term self-limits frost growth independently of the evaporator-depression term that drives COP, and a latent-heat energy balance times the reverse-cycle defrost -- a genuinely distinct 2D computation of the same phenomenon as the 3D twin, not a flattened redraw of it.

heat pumpCOPdefrostHVACpsychrometricsthermodynamics

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install