The Investigation of Thermal Energy Storage - Heat Pump Integration for Residential Applications
Abstract
Transitions to a majority renewable energy-based grid to enable decarbonization require a significant increase in energy storage to supplement the intermittent nature of renewables. Buildings consume a substantial portion of electricity on the grid for thermal loads related to Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC). Due to the high cost of battery storage and the synergy with the primarily thermal loads of buildings, thermal energy storage (TES) is well suited to add additional energy storage to the grid at a low cost. This project investigated the implementation and feasibility of thermal storage with heat pumps in renewable energy-powered workspace. Integration was done with heat pumps due to their growing popularity with the electrification of household heating. This synergy is essential to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with traditional home heating. The project has designed a prototype design and tested a small-scale heat pump-TES system on a fully renewable test bed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach. A fully designed model was created in CAD based on preliminary heat transfer and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning calculations for thermal loading and required components. A validation model was completed and tested to verify the feasibility of the integration of thermal energy storage and existing heat pump systems and validates that this can be scaled for various use cases, targeting low-income and small-scale residential applications. This prototype was used to explore engineering challenges of future system configurations, examine component behavior through parametric testing, and evaluate energy savings enabled by adding TES to residential HVAC systems.
The Investigation of Thermal Energy Storage - Heat Pump Integration for Residential Applications
Transitions to a majority renewable energy-based grid to enable decarbonization require a significant increase in energy storage to supplement the intermittent nature of renewables. Buildings consume a substantial portion of electricity on the grid for thermal loads related to Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC). Due to the high cost of battery storage and the synergy with the primarily thermal loads of buildings, thermal energy storage (TES) is well suited to add additional energy storage to the grid at a low cost. This project investigated the implementation and feasibility of thermal storage with heat pumps in renewable energy-powered workspace. Integration was done with heat pumps due to their growing popularity with the electrification of household heating. This synergy is essential to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with traditional home heating. The project has designed a prototype design and tested a small-scale heat pump-TES system on a fully renewable test bed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach. A fully designed model was created in CAD based on preliminary heat transfer and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning calculations for thermal loading and required components. A validation model was completed and tested to verify the feasibility of the integration of thermal energy storage and existing heat pump systems and validates that this can be scaled for various use cases, targeting low-income and small-scale residential applications. This prototype was used to explore engineering challenges of future system configurations, examine component behavior through parametric testing, and evaluate energy savings enabled by adding TES to residential HVAC systems.