Low-Carbon District Heating: Performance Modeling of Hybrid Solar, Heat Pump, and Thermal Storage Systems for District Thermal Energy in the United States
District heating requires thermal energy in the temperature range of 40 degrees C - 120 degrees C. Typically, the thermal energy input for these systems has largely been met through fossil energy. However, the temperature range is low enough that it presents an opportunity for low-carbon technologies such as solar thermal and electrified thermal generators like heat pumps to decarbonize the heat generation. In this paper, a heat pump model was applied to estimate the performance and economics of a real-world low-carbon district heating substation. This system is comprised of a flat plate solar collector field paired with a mechanical vapor compression heat pump and hot water thermal storage, augmented by gas-fired boilers. Plant data was used to tune the model and estimate the system's benefits in terms of both standard financial metrics (IRR and payback), and environmental metrics, including avoided CO2 emissions. The model is subsequently employed to estimate the technical and economic potential of solar + heat pump + ther-mal storage hybrid systems as retrofits for district heating systems in eight US Markets.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Strategic Analysis Team; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Manufacturing Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1898094
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-5R00-82496; MainId:83269; UUID:6fd53a5f-fe32-40f7-9208-ee45d6a3adf3; MainAdminID:67954
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at the 19th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference at Purdue, 10-14 July 2022
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Renewable Thermal Energy Systems Designed for Industrial Process Solutions in Multiple Industries: Preprint
Modeling Tool Development and Validation for Solar Industry Process Heat Using Particle Thermal Energy Storage