Dynamic model development for large-scale heat pumps to assess their operating characteristics as part of energy systems
The ongoing electrification of industrial heat production has made the use of heat pumps an attractive and efficient solution for generating heat, while also providing opportunities for significant greenhouse gas emission reductions. Moreover, heat pumps can offer increased flexibility to power systems, a feature that is increasingly important as the EU electricity market transitions from longer trading intervals to shorter ones—such as moving from hourly to fifteen-minute periods. To investigate the dynamic behavior and flexibility of different types of heat pump systems, the development of accurate dynamic models is essential. In this study, a dynamic model for a large-scale heat pump was generated using the Simscape environment in MATLAB Simulink. The aim of the modelling is to provide preliminary information on system dynamics, and it can be utilized in assessing the system’s capability for flexible usage. The model is based on an existing industrialscale heat pump system that produces heat to a district heating network. The study presents the main features of the model, and it also presents a comparison of modelled results to the measured values for the low temperature cycle of the two-stage heat pump. As a result, a simple model was developed, and the simulated results show adequate agreement with the corresponding steady-state measurements. Dynamic operation was also modelled by varying refrigerant mass flow during the simulation which the model handled successfully.