Optimized design and integration of energy storage in Solar-Assisted Ground-Source Heat Pump systems

The integrated use of multiple renewable energy sources to increase the efficiency of heat pump systems,such as in Solar Assisted Geothermal Heat Pumps(SAGHP),may lead to significant benefits in terms of increased efficiency and overall system performance especially in extreme climate contexts,but requires careful integrated optimization of the different system components.In particular,thermal storages take a fundamental role in optimizing the integration of renewable energy sources and the system operation.This work investigates the potential design optimization of a SAGHP system in a mountain site by exploring many different alternatives to optimize the mutual relationship between the solar field,the geothermal field and the water thermal storages.This is done through an original simulation-based multi-objective optimization framework considering energy efficiency and economic feasibility,which allows appraising the impact of the different design alternatives on the overall system performance and on the dynamics of the different system components.Results identify a set of optimized system configurations that optimize the integrated exploitation of the different thermal sources showing a potential increase of the overall system performance leading to 34%lower global cost compared to the initial design.High robustness of the optimal design solutions is reported with respect to the current context of high economic uncertainty.

Thermal comfort assessment and energy consumption analysis of ground-source heat pump system combined with radiant heating/cooling

A new ground source heat pump system combined with radiant heating/cooling is proposed, and the principles and the advantages of the system are analyzed. A demonstration of the system is applied to a rebuilt building： Xijindu exhibition hall, which is located in Zhenjiang city in China. Numerical studies on the thermal comfort and energy consumption of the system are carded out by using TRNSYS software. The results indicate that the system with the radiant floor method or the radiant ceiling method shows good thermal comfort without mechanical ventilation in winter. However, the system with either of the methods should add mechanical ventilation to ensure good comfort in summer. At the same level of thermal comfort, it can also be found that the annual energy consumption of the radiant ceiling system is less than that of the radiant floor system.

Operating performance of novel reverse-cycle defrosting method based on thermal energy storage for air source heat pump

To solve the fundamental problem of insufficient heat available during defrosting while ensuring the efficient and safe system operation for air-source heat pumps (ASHPs). A novel reverse-cycle defrosting (NRCD) method based on thermal energy storage to eliminate frost off the outdoor coil surface was developed. Comparative experiments using both the stand reverse cycle defrosting (SRCD) method and the NRCD method were carried out on an experimental ASHP unit with a nominal 2.5 kW heating capacity. The results indicate that during defrosting operation, using the NRCD method improves discharge and suction pressures by 0.24 MPa and 0.19 MPa, respectively, shortens defrosting duration by 60%, and reduces the defrosting energy consumption by 48.1% in the experimental environment, compared with those by the use of SRCD method. Therefore, using the NRCD method can shorten the defrosting duration, improve the indoor thermal comfort, and reduce the defrosting energy consumption in defrosting.

Performance analysis of U-vertical direct-expansion ground-source heat pump

The performance of a direct-expansion ground-source heat pump（DX GSHP）system is theoretically analyzed.Compared with the conventional ground-source heat pump（GSHP）,the DX GSHP has a lower condensing temperature in the cooling mode and a higher evaporating temperature in the heating mode,and the ground heat exchanger（GHE）in the DX GSHP has a low thermal resistance.Therefore,the coefficient of performance（COP）of the DX GSHP is higher than that of the GSHP.In addition,the system performance of the DX GSHP system is higher than that of the conventional GSHP system because there are no secondary solution loops and water circulating pumps in the DX GSHP system.The experimental energy performance of the DX GSHP system is also investigated based on the actual operational data.The tested DX GSHP system is installed in Xiangtan,China.The U-vertical GHE of the DX GSHP is buried in a water well.The length and the outside nominal diameter of the GHE are 42 m and 12.7 mm,respectively.The experimental results show that the maximum（COP）and the average COP of the DX GSHP system in the heating mode are 5.95 and 4.72,respectively.

Numerical Analysis of Doublet Wells for Cold Energy Storage on Heat Damage Treatment in Deep Mines

Deep mining is an inevitable tendency in the development of coal industry. There are many heat damage problems with the increase of mining depth. The technology of using doublet wells, together with Heat Exchange Machine Systems （HEMSs）, to store cold energy is a key to solve the heat damage problems in deep mines. Based on the geological conditions, thermodynamic and hydraulic parameters of Jiahe Mine, the isotherms in the period of cold energy storage and refrigeration and the volumes of cold water within different temperature ranges of the cold energy storage well were numerically analyzed. The results show that 1） with the same pumped and injected water volumes, the lower the temperature of injected water is, the larger the volume.of cold water in the cold energy storage well is. With the larger volume, the effect of cold energy storage is better. 2） the larger the volumes of pumped and reinjected water frigeration is better. And 3） without disturbance, the volume and temperature of cold water in the cold energy storage well can keep unchanged or have only a little change for a long time. Therefore the technology of doublet wells for cold energy storage is feasible and the cold energy storage aquifers can meet the requirement of the technology.

Simulation and experiment of a photovoltaic—air source heat pump system with thermal energy storage for heating and domestic hot water supply

For China,the development of low-energy buildings is one of the necessary routes for achieving carbon neutrality.Combining photovoltaic(PV)with air source heat pump(ASHP)yields a great potential in providing heating and domestic hot water(DHW)supply in non-central heating areas.However,the diurnal and seasonal inconsistencies between solar availability and building heat load can severely affect the efficacy of solar energy systems.This study creates and numerically simulates a PV-ASHP system with thermal energy storage(TES)in transient system simulation software,TRNSYS.Experimental studies are conducted to validate the simulation model.The system’s yearly operational characteristics are simulated to reveal the energy conversion relationship between the system’s thermoelectric storage and heating and DHW demand.The results show that the synergy between heating and DHW simultaneously improves the direct utilization of solar energy compared to single heating.The yearly self-consumption and self-satisfaction rates of PV and the COP of the ASHP increase by 131.25%,10.53%and 9.56%,respectively.Solar energy contributes 55.54%to the system,with a PV capacity of 82 W per square meter of building area.This study provides fresh approaches to developing flexible building-integrated PV-ASHP technologies and balance of the energy exchange among the PV,building load and TES.

Experimental Investigation on System with Combination of Ground-Source Heat Pump and Solar Collector

This paper presents the heating performance and energy distribution of a system with the combination of ground-source heat pump and solar collector or a solar-assisted ground-source heat pump system (SAGSHPS) by calculation and experiment.The results show that the average absolute error is less than 0.6 ℃ and the relative error is less than 5% under the pulse load when the analytical solution to the 2-D solid cylindrical source model is used for the SAGSHPS.The coefficient of performance (COP) of the SAGSHPS is 2.95-4.70.The average fluid temperature in the borehole heat exchanger can increase by 3 ℃ with the assistance of solar collector,which will improve the COP of the heat pump by approximately 10% from the experimental data.The energy contributions to the total heating load of soil,electricity and solar are 56.30%,36.87% and 6.83%,respectively.

Numerical simulation on heat transfer performance of vertical U-tube with different borehole fill materials

Heat exchange performance of vertical U-tube heat exchanger was studied with two different borehole fill materials and CFD software. Borehole surface temperature and water temperature distribution were simulated on the condition of continuous operation for 8 h in winter with inlet water temperature being 10℃. The results show that there is no obvious difference on heat exchanger performance between the two different borehole fill materials.

Modeling and numerical simulation of a novel solar-powered absorption air conditioning system driven by a bubble pump with energy storage

This paper presents a novel solar-powered absorption air conditioning system driven by a bubble pump with energy storage. It solves the problem of unreliable solar energy supply by storing the working fluids and hence, functions 24 h per day. First, the working principles are described and the dynamic models for the primary energy storage components are developed. Then, the system is evaluated based on a numerical simulation. Based on the meteorological data of a typical day in a subtropical area, with the area of a solar collector being set at 19.15 m2, whilst the initial charging mass, mass fraction and temperature of the solution are respectively set at 379.5 kg, 54.16% and 34.5 ℃, it is found that the respective coefficients of performance (COP) of the air conditioning system and the en- tire system (including the solar panel) are 0.7771 and 0.4372. In particular, the energy storage density of the system is 206.69 MJ/m3 which is much greater than those of chilled water or hot water storage systems under comparable conditions. This makes the new system much more compact and efficient. Finally, an automatic control strategy is given to achieve the highest COP when solar energy fluctuates.

Numerical Assessment on Fin Design Parameters Employed for Augmentation of Natural Convection and Fluid Flow in a Horizontal Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Unit

The present work focus on the thermal performance of a horizontal concentric heat exchanger, which is numerically investigated to evaluate the heat transfer enhancement process by adding fins with different configurations. As a part of this investigation, the melting process is simulated from the onset of phase change to the offset involving physics of natural convection in PCM fluid pool. The investigation is carried out by ANSYS Fluent code, which is an efficient numerical analysis tool for investigating fluid flow and convective heat transfer phenomena during PCM melting process. The attention is mainly focused on the extension of contact area between the PCM body and cylindrical capsule to enhance heat transfer rates to PCM bodies during the melting process by employing longitudinal fins in the enclosed capsule. Two commercial PCMs: RT50 and C58, are introduced in a 2D cylindrical pipe with their thermo-physical properties as input for modelling. The selected modelling approach is validated against experimental result with respect to the total enthalpy changes that qualify our model to run in the proceeding calculation. It is ensured that an isothermal boundary condition (373 K) is applied to the inner pipe throughout the series of simulation cases and the corresponding Rayleigh number (Ra) ranges from 104 - 105 and Prandtl number (Pr) 0.05 - 0.07. Finally, parametric study is carried out to evaluate the effect of length, thickness and number of longitudinal fins on the thermal performance of PCM-LHTES (Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage) system associated with the physics of natural convection process during PCM melting.

Influence of the Fin Design on the Melting and Solidification Process of NANO3 in a Thermal Energy Storage System

The melting and solidification process of sodium nitrate, which is used as energy storage material, is studied in a vertical arranged energy storage device with two different bimetal finned tube designs （with and without additional lateral fins） for enhancing the heat transfer. The finned tube design consists of a plain steel tube while the material for the longitudinal （axial） fins is aluminum. The investigation analyses the influence of the lateral fins on the charging and discharging process. Three-dimensional transient numerical simulations are performed using the ANSYS Fluent 14.5 software. The results show that, every obstruction given by lateral fins reduces the melting and solidification velocity in direction to the outer shell.

UTES （Underground Thermal Energy Storage）---Applications and Market Development in Sweden

The market for shallow geothermal solutions has been continuously growing in Sweden and is recognized as a cost effective and environmental sound way for space heating. In later years, UTES （underground thermal energy storage） systems have become fTequently installed for combined heating and cooling of commercial and institutional buildings. After 20 years, operational experiences of these systems are proved to be energy efficient, technically safe and profitable. In this paper, the current statistics of UTES applications are given as well as market trends and technical development. The goal is to encourage designers and installers in other counties to use this promising technology.

Thermal energy storage as a way to improve transcritical CO_(2) heat pump performance by means of heat recovery cycles

Electrification of the heating sector is a major target of energy transition towards a more sustainable,efficient,and less polluted future.Heat pumps are considered more suitable than electrical heaters or fossil-fueled boilers;however,common refrigerants cause ozone layer depletion,which exacerbates the greenhouse effect.Natural refrigerants,such as CO_(2),perform comparably and even better than hydrofluorocarbons while minimizing the negative aspects.This study presents a model of a water-heater CO_(2) transcritical heat pump in a configuration that increases the overall coefficient of performance(COP)by introducing thermal energy storage(TES).The thermodynamic cycle was divided into two separate phases.After heating the TES(charging),warm water was used as the heating fluid in the evaporator to increase the evaporation temperature and pressure of CO_(2),which reduced the work of the compressor.As the water temperature decreased progressively,the discharge cycles improved the total COP.The case study focuses on dairy processes and suggests a more straightforward and cheaper method to improve cycle efficiency than the current processes,such as ejector-expansion systems or double compression.

Research on Operation Optimization of Heating System Based on Electric Storage Coupled Solar Energy and Air Source Heat Pump

For heating systems based on electricity storage coupled with solar energy and an air source heat pump(ECSA),choosing the appropriate combination of heat sources according to local conditions is the key to improving economic efficiency.In this paper,four cities in three climatic regions in China were selected,namely Nanjing in the hot summer and cold winter region,Tianjin in the cold region,Shenyang and Harbin in the severe cold winter region.The levelized cost of heat(LCOH)was used as the economic evaluation index,and the energy consumption and emissions of different pollutants were analyzed.TRNSYS software was used to simulate and analyze the system performance.The Hooke-Jeeves optimization algorithm and GenOpt software were used to optimize the system parameters.The results showed that ECSA systemhad an excellent operation effect in cold region and hot summer and cold winter region.Compared with ECS system,the systemenergy consumption,and the emission of different pollutants of ECSA system can be reduced by a maximum of 1.37 times.In cold region,the initial investment in an air source heat pump is higher due to the lower ambient temperature,resulting in an increase in the LOCH value of ECSA system.After the LOCH value of ECSA system in each region was optimized,the heating cost of the system was reduced,but also resulted in an increase in energy consumption and the emission of different pollutant gases.

Simulation Study of the Control Strategy of a DC Inverter Heat Pump Using a DC Distribution Network

Photovoltaics,energy storage,direct current and flexibility(PEDF)are important pillars of achievement on the path to manufacturing nearly zero energy buildings(NZEBs).HVAC systems,which are an important part of public buildings,play a key role in adapting to PDEF systems.This research studied the basic principles and operational control strategies of a DC inverter heat pump using a DC distribution network with the aim of contributing to the development and application of small DC distribution systems.Along with the characteristics of a DC distribution network and different operating conditions,a DC inverter heat pump has the ability to adapt to changes in the DC bus voltage and adds flexibility to the system.Theoretical models of the DC inverter heat pump integrated with an ice storage unit were developed.The control strategies of the DC inverter heat pump system considered the influence of both room temperature and varied bus voltage.A simulation study was conducted using MATLAB&Simulink software with simulation results validated by experimental data.The results showed that:(1)The bus fluctuation under the rated working voltage had little effect on the operation of the unit;(2)When the bus voltage was fluctuating from 80%-90%or 105%-107%,the heat pump could still operate normally by reducing the frequency;(3)When the bus voltage was less than 80%or more than 107%,the unit needed to be shut down for the sake of equipment safety,so that the energy storage device could adjust to the sharp decrease or rise of voltage.

Liquid Air Energy Storage for Decentralized Micro Energy Networks with Combined Cooling,Heating,Hot Water and Power Supply

Liquid air energy storage(LAES)has been regarded as a large-scale electrical storage technology.In this paper,we first investigate the performance of the current LAES(termed as a baseline LAES)over a far wider range of charging pressure(1 to 21 MPa).Our analyses show that the baseline LAES could achieve an electrical round trip efficiency(e RTE)above 60%at a high charging pressure of 19 MPa.The baseline LAES,however,produces a large amount of excess heat particularly at low charging pressures with the maximum occurred at~1 MPa.Hence,the performance of the baseline LAES,especially at low charging pressures,is underestimated by only considering electrical energy in all the previous research.The performance of the baseline LAES with excess heat is then evaluated which gives a high e RTE even at lower charging pressures;the local maximum of 62%is achieved at~4 MPa.As a result of the above,a hybrid LAES system is proposed to provide cooling,heating,hot water and power.To evaluate the performance of the hybrid LAES system,three performance indicators are considered:nominal-electrical round trip efficiency(ne RTE),primary energy savings and avoided carbon dioxide emissions.Our results show that the hybrid LAES can achieve a high ne RTE between 52%and 76%,with the maximum at~5 MPa.For a given size of hybrid LAES(1 MW×8 h),the primary energy savings and avoided carbon dioxide emissions are up to 12.1 MWh and 2.3 ton,respectively.These new findings suggest,for the first time,that small-scale LAES systems could be best operated at lower charging pressures and the technologies have a great potential for applications in local decentralized micro energy networks.

Experimental Analysis of a Solar Energy Storage Heat Pump System

This paper introduces a novel solar-assisted heat pump system with phase change energy storage and describes the methodology used to analyze the performance of the proposed system.A mathematical model was established for the key parts of the system including solar evaporator,condenser,phase change energy storage tank,and compressor.In parallel to the modelling work,an experimental set-up of the proposed solar energy storage heat pump system was developed.The experimental data showed that the designed system is capable of meeting cold day heating demands in rural areas of Yanbian city located in Jilin province of China.In day-time operation,the solar heat pump system stores excess energy in the energy storage tank for heating purposes.A desired indoor temperature was achieved;the average coefficient of performance of solar heat pump was identified as 4.5,and the system showed a stable performance throughout the day.In night-time operation,the energy stored in the storage tank was released through a liquid-solid change of phase in the employed phase-change material.In this way,the provision of continuous heat for ten hours was ensured within the building,and the desired indoor air conditions were achieved.

Research on Operation of Electrothermal Integrated Energy System Including Heat Pump and Thermal Storage Units Based on Capacity Planning

In view of the Three North areas existing wind power absorption and environment pollution problems,the previous scholars have improved the wind abandon problem by adding electrothermal coupling equipment or optimizing power grid operation.In this paper,an electrothermal integrated energy system including heat pump and thermal storage units was proposed.The scheduling model was based on the load data and the output characteristics of power units,each power unit capacity was programmed without constraints,and the proposed scheduling model was compared with the traditional combined heat and power scheduling model.Results showed that the investment and pollutant discharge of the system was reduced respectively.Wind power was fully absorbed.Compared with the traditional thermal power unit,the proportion of the output was significantly decreased by the proposed model.The proposed system could provide a new prospect for wind power absorption and environment protection.

Simulation of embedded heat exchangers of solar aided ground source heat pump system

Aimed at unbalance of soil temperature field of ground source heat pump system, solar aided energy storage system was established. In solar assisted ground-source heat pump (SAGSHP) system with soil storage, solar energy collected in three seasons was stored in the soil by vertical U type soil exchangers. The heat abstracted by the ground-source heat pump and collected by the solar collector was employed to heating. Some of the soil heat exchangers were used to store solar energy in the soil so as to be used in next winter after this heating period; and the others were used to extract cooling energy directly in the soil by circulation pump for air conditioning in summer. After that solar energy began to be stored in the soil and ended before heating period. Three dimensional dynamic numerical simulations were built for soil and soil heat exchanger through finite element method. Simulation was done in different strata month by month. Variation and restoration of soil temperature were studied. Economy and reliability of long term SAGSHP system were revealed. It can be seen that soil temperature is about 3 ℃ higher than the original one after one year's running. It is beneficial for the system to operate for long period.

Possibilities of Reducing Energy Consumption by Optimization of Ground Source Heat Pump Systems in Babylon, Iraq

Iraq is located in the Middle East with an area that reaches 437,072 km2 and a population of about 36 million. This country is suffering from severe electricity shortage problems which are expected to increase with time. In this research, an attempt is made to minimize this problem by combining the borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) with a heat pump, the indoor temperature of a residential building or other facility may be increased or reduced beyond the temperature interval of the heat carrier fluid. Due to the relatively high ground temperature in Middle Eastern countries, the seasonal thermal energy storages (STES) and ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems have a remarkable potential, partly because the reduced thermal losses from the underground storage and the expected high COP (ratio of thermal energy gain to required driving energy (electricity)) of a heat pump, partly because of the potential for using STES directly for heating and cooling. In this research, groundwater conditions of Babylon city in Iraq were investigated to evaluate the possibility of using GSHP to reduce energy consumption. It is believed that such system will reduce consumed energy by about 60%.