Trigeneration systems based on heat pumps with natural refrigerants and multiple renewable sources.

Solutions developed

TRI-HP project is developing two renewable heating and cooling systems: • Dual-source/sink heat pump system with the possibility to use ground and/or air as heat sources/sinks. • Solar-ice system based on supercooling ice-slurry heat pump with solar energy as the main renewable heat-source. TRI-HP systems will include advanced controls, managing electricity, heat and cool in a way that optimises the performance of the system and increases its reliability via failure self-detection.

Main results

The propane-ice heat pump, CO2-ice heat pump: experimental results show good performance for high DHW demand with large temperature differences at the gas cooler if the inlet temperature of the gas cooler is low (10 °C to 20 °C, such typical temperature level of fresh water). In DHW mode, the COP varies between 3.6 and 4.3 for set temperatures of 55 °C to 65 °C. Propane-ice heat pump: This system was studied at a steady state for only space heating operation, only domestic hot water operation, and simultaneous domestic hot water and space heating operation. The results indicate that the COP for space heating temperature 30/35 °C ranges between 4.4 and 5.4. However, the COP of the unit for DHW with a set temperature of 65 °C drops to between 2.5 and 2.8. Propane-dual source heat pump: The results indicate a slightly lower heat duty than the requirements under the design conditions, while the COP varies between 3.2 and 3.7, depending on the operating mode. More information: https://www.tri-hp.eu/documents