18 May 2017

P.2.3.7 Operation of heat pumps for smart grid integrated buildings with thermal energy storage

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A small scale office building consisting of radiant heating, a heat pump, and a water thermal energy storage tank is implemented in an optimal control framework. The optimal control aims to minimize operational electricity costs of the heat pump based on real-time power spot market prices. Optimal control and reference control are compared investigating the operation of heat pumps in a future scenario. Due to enforced implementation of renewable energy generation, future power grids will require optimal control, especially for heat pumps combined with thermal energy storage.
The results of the optimization show that in the future scenario, heat pumps need to operate with high frequencies of ON/OFF switching and should be able to operate efficiently at partial load.