đź“„ A new SEEDS publication is now available!
“Integrated optimal control and borefield sizing for (small) hybrid heating and cooling systems”
The study investigates hybrid heating and cooling systems that integrate multiple heat and cold sources into a single system, enabling a control algorithm to activate the most efficient source at every moment. By combining advanced control with system sizing, the work explores how energy use, operational costs, and carbon emissions can be significantly reduced while avoiding unnecessary investment costs.
Key insights:
🔹 Hybrid heating and cooling systems allow a control algorithm to activate the most efficient heat source at every moment, thereby having the potential to significantly reduce energy use, operational costs, and carbon emissions.
🔹 To keep investment costs acceptable, it is crucial to avoid oversizing components, especially the borefield.
🔹 The main goal of this paper is to integrate a non-linear program-based (NLP), physics-based MPC formulation in an optimal borefield sizing strategy such that the overall operational cost of the system and the borefield investment cost are minimized simultaneously.
🔹 Two methods are developed and compared, in terms of accuracy and computational speed, using a residential and an office building as use cases.
The study shows that integrating optimal control directly into the sizing process enables a better balance between investment and operational costs, while fully exploiting the flexibility of hybrid heating and cooling systems.
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