Energy performance comparison of three innovative HVAC systems for renovation through dynamic simulation

In this paper, dynamic simulation was used to compare the energy performance of three innovativeHVAC systems: (A) mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) and micro heat pump, (B) exhaustventilation with exhaust air-to-water heat pump and ventilation radiators, and (C) exhaust ventilationwith air-to-water heat pump and ventilation radiators, to a reference system: (D) exhaust ventilation withair-to-water heat pump and panel radiators. System A was modelled in MATLAB Simulink and systems Band C in TRNSYS 17. The reference system was modelled in both tools, for comparison between the two.All systems were tested with a model of a renovated single family house for varying U-values, climates,infiltration and ventilation rates.It was found that A was the best system for lower heating demand, while for higher heating demandsystem B would be preferable. System C was better than the reference system, but not as good as A or B.The difference in energy consumption of the reference system was less than 2 kWh/(m2a) betweenSimulink and TRNSYS. This could be explained by the different ways of handling solar gains, but also bythe fact that the TRNSYS systems supplied slightly more than the ideal heating demand.

Simulation study of cascade heat pump for solar combisystems

This paper focuses on the study of cascade heat pump systems in combination with solar thermal for the production of hot water and space heating in single family houses with relatively high heating demand. The system concept was developed by Ratiotherm GmbH and simulated with TRNSYS 17. The basic cascade system uses the heat pump and solar collectors in parallel operation while a further development is the inclusion of an intermediate store that enables the possibility of serial/parallel operation and the use of low temperature solar heat. Parametric studies in terms of compressor size, refrigerant pair and size of intermediate heat exchanger were carried out for the optimization of the basic system. The system configurations were simulated for the complete year and compared to a reference of a solar thermal system combined with an air source heat pump. The results show ~13% savings in electricity use for all three cascade systems compared to the reference. However, the complexity of the systems is different and thus higher capital costs are expected.