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A prototype of an indoor monoblock heat pump was tested at multiple ambient temperatures, to determine heat output, COP and the impact of defrosting events. Component efficiencies and the ice accumulation process were analysed. Options to improve performance were suggested.
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Research has been done on how the implementation of heat pumps in dwellings could have the maximum impact on energy savings.
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The neighborhood of Houtlaan in Assen, the Netherlands, has ambitious targets for reducing the neighborhood’scarbon emissions and increasing their production of their own, sustainable energy. Specifically, they wish toincrease the percentage of houses with a heat pump, electric vehicle (EV) and solar panels (PV) to 60%, 70%and 80%, respectively, by the year 2030. However, it was unclear what the impacts of this transition would be onthe electricity grid, and what limitations or problems might be encountered along the way.Therefore, a study was carried out to model the future energy load and production patterns in Houtlaan. Thepurpose of the model was to identify and quantify the problems which could be encountered if no steps are takento prevent these problems. In addition, the model was used to simulate the effectiveness of various proposedsolutions to reduce or eliminate the problems which were identified.
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Het project “In twee stappen naar een aardgasvrije en comfortabele Nederlandse woonomgeving” ontwikkelt een manier om de overstap naar aardgasvrije woningverwarming eenvoudiger, minder spannend, betrouwbaarder en beter te maken. Dat doen we door een “hybride” tussenstap, die een behoorlijke aardgasreductie en financiële besparing geeft, eenvoudig en relatief goedkoop te realiseren is, zonder onzekerheid over comfort.Eerst stond het ontwikkelen en testen van een lucht-water warmtepomp met volledige binnenopstelling centraal. Als deze ook efficiënt is bij hogere watertemperatuur, kan dezelfde warmtepomp eerst hybride worden ingezet en later volledig de warmtevraag en tapwatervraag overnemen. Bij tests bleek het vermogen echter te beperkt voor doorsnee rijtjeswoningen. Daarom zouden er voor een gasvrije woning 2 warmtepompen nodig zijn. Door eerst een airco (lucht-lucht warmtepomp) te installeren in de hoofdruimte en later de ketel te vervangen door een goed gedimensioneerde lucht-water warmtepomp met buffer, kan de overstap naar gasvrij worden gemaakt op een manier die ons in dit project voor ogen stond.Dit rapport beschrijft dit “airco hybride” concept en vergelijkt dit met een hybride lucht-water warmtepomp en met in één keer de overstap maken met één warmtepomp. De airco is veel goedkoper in aanschaf en installatie, is snel te leveren en installeren, kan koelen, en verwarmt relatief snel. Doordat de al aanwezige radiatoren minder warmte hoeven te leveren, kunnen die werken bij een lagere temperatuur. Dat maakt de lucht-water warmtepomp efficiënter, terwijl aanpassingen in het afgiftesysteem minder noodzakelijk zijn. Omdat de overstap naar een lucht-water warmtepomp pas later komt, kan men de tussentijdse ontwikkelingen benutten.Een integrale regeling is een essentieel onderdeel van het concept. In stap één (airco toevoegen) worden temperaturen en vermogens gemonitord, waardoor in stap twee (vervangen ketel door gasvrije warmtebron) de juiste configuratie kan worden gekozen, de noodzakelijke aanpassingen aan isolatie en afgiftesysteem in beeld worden gebracht, en de energiekosten en netbelasting kunnen worden berekend. Tijdens beide stappen stuurt de regeling de airco en ketel (en later de lucht-water warmtepomp) zodanig aan dat beide efficiënt draaien.Van een 3,5 kW airco is de COP gemeten bij 1,5 – 4,0 kW warmtevraag en buitentemperaturen van -10 tot +12°C. Als de airco niet hoeft te ontdooien is de COP maximaal bij 2 à 2,5 kW warmtevraag. De prestaties zijn dan vergelijkbaar met een monoblock lucht-water warmtepomp die water van 35°C levert voor vloerverwarming. Bij buitentemperatuur onder 3°C daalt de COP en wordt maximaal 2,5 kW vermogen geleverd. Bij 3,5 à 4 kW is de COP 1 à 1,3 lager dan bij 2 kW warmtevraag. De laagste COP werd gemeten bij 1,0 kW warmtevraag. Ontwikkeling van vermogenssturing in combinatie met het cv-systeem is dus de moeite waard. De lagere COP bij hoge vermogens hangt samen met de hoge temperatuur van koudemiddel en uitblaaslucht in de binnenunit. Dit hing samen met de relatief lage luchtstroom en de warmteoverdracht in meestroom. Als airco’s vooral worden ingezet voor verwarming is het de moeite waard om de mogelijke COP verhoging door grotere binnenunits met tegenstroom te onderzoeken. Het regelgedrag is onderzocht bij constante warmtevraag, zowel van een airco alleen als in combinatie met een aan-uit geschakelde ketel die dezelfde ruimte verwarmt via radiatoren. Ook is het regelgedrag van een airco en ketel onderzocht bij een variabele warmtevraag, waarbij de ketel afzonderlijk werd geregeld door een ruimtethermostaat. De trage reactie van de cv-afgifte leidde tot een variabele ruimtetemperatuur, en maakt dat het airco- vermogen niet goed kan worden gestuurd door de ketel aan/uit te schakelen. In hoofdstuk 5 wordt voorgesteld hoe dit beter zou kunnen, en wat de mogelijke vervolgstappen in het ontwikkelingstraject zouden kunnen zijn.
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In this research, the experiences and behaviors of end-users in a smart grid project are explored. In PowerMatching City, the leading Dutch smart grid project, 40 households were equipped with various decentralized energy sources (PV and microCHP), hybrid heat pumps, smart appliances, smart meters and an in-home display. Stabilization and optimization of the network was realized by trading energy on the market. To reduce peak loads on the smart grid, several types of demand side management were tested. Households received feedback on their energy use either based on costs, or on the percentage of consumed energy that had been produced locally. Furthermore, devices could be controlled automatically, smartly or manually to optimize the energy use of the households. Results from quantitative and qualitative research showed that: (1) feedback on costs reduction is valued most; (2) end-users preferred to consume self-produced energy (this may even be the case when, from a cost or sustainability perspective, it is not the most efficient strategy to follow); (3) automatic and smart control are most popular, but manually controlling appliances is more rewarding; (4) experiences and behaviors of end-users depended on trust between community members, and on trust in both technology (ICT infrastructure and connected appliances) and the participating parties.
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The Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) sector is responsible for a large part of the total worldwide energy consumption, a significant part of which is caused by incorrect operation of controls and maintenance. HVAC systems are becoming increasingly complex, especially due to multi-commodity energy sources, and as a result, the chance of failures in systems and controls will increase. Therefore, systems that diagnose energy performance are of paramount importance. However, despite much research on Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) methods for HVAC systems, they are rarely applied. One major reason is that proposed methods are different from the approaches taken by HVAC designers who employ process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs). This led to the following main research question: Which FDD architecture is suitable for HVAC systems in general to support the set up and implementation of FDD methods, including energy performance diagnosis? First, an energy performance FDD architecture based on information embedded in P&IDs was elaborated. The new FDD method, called the 4S3F method, combines systems theory with data analysis. In the 4S3F method, the detection and diagnosis phases are separated. The symptoms and faults are classified into 4 types of symptoms (deviations from balance equations, operating states (OS) and energy performance (EP), and additional information) and 3 types of faults (component, control and model faults). Second, the 4S3F method has been tested in four case studies. In the first case study, the symptom detection part was tested using historical Building Management System (BMS) data for a whole year: the combined heat and power plant of the THUAS (The Hague University of Applied Sciences) building in Delft, including an aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system, a heat pump, a gas boiler and hot and cold water hydronic systems. This case study showed that balance, EP and OS symptoms can be extracted from the P&ID and the presence of symptoms detected. In the second case study, a proof of principle of the fault diagnosis part of the 4S3F method was successfully performed on the same HVAC system extracting possible component and control faults from the P&ID. A Bayesian Network diagnostic, which mimics the way of diagnosis by HVAC engineers, was applied to identify the probability of all possible faults by interpreting the symptoms. The diagnostic Bayesian network (DBN) was set up in accordance with the P&ID, i.e., with the same structure. Energy savings from fault corrections were estimated to be up to 25% of the primary energy consumption, while the HVAC system was initially considered to have an excellent performance. In the third case study, a demand-driven ventilation system (DCV) was analysed. The analysis showed that the 4S3F method works also to identify faults on an air ventilation system.
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Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) have the potential to offer better flexibility to a grid than any single energy storage solution. However, sizing a HESS is challenging, as the required capacity, power and ramp rates for a given application are difficult to derive. This paper proposes a method for splitting a given load profile into several storage technology independent sub-profiles, such that each of the sub-profiles leads to its own requirements. This method can be used to gain preliminary insight into HESS requirements before a choice is made for specific storage technologies. To test the method, a household case is investigated using the derived methodology, and storage requirements are found, which can then be used to derive concrete storage technologies for the HESS of the household. Adding a HESS to the household case reduces the maximum import power from the connected grid by approximately 7000 W and the maximum exported power to the connected grid by approximately 1000 W. It is concluded that the method is particularly suitable for data sets with a high granularity and many data points.
MULTIFILE
This report has been established within the Flexiheat project. Flexiheat has focused on increasing flexibility in district heating systems. The intelligent district heating network is a dynamic network: an open network where different waste heat and renewable energy sources are connected, that has multiple producers and groups of consumers and facilitates the connection between different energy infrastructures (gas, heat and electricity). Eventually this will lead to an optimal deployment of the available heat sources and an increased cost-efficiency of district heating. Flexiheat aims to develop new concepts for these intelligent, flexible district heating networks. One of the strategies is to allow third party access to the network. A smart control system is developed to manage the heat flows across the network. This system makes use of dynamic pricing. In this exploration the concept of third party access in relation to the Flexiheat project will be discussed. The development of new business and price models based on the Flexiheat approach has led to an analysis of possible alternative price models for consumers.
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