Boundary conditions and first economic assessment
Energy demands for reference multi-family buildings in space heating (SH) dominated and space cooling (SC) dominated climates were defined. These boundary conditions of TRI-HP systems will be used in the simulation framework. Two distinct scenarios corresponding to Northern / Central and Southern Europe are analysed: space heating (SH) dominated and space cooling (SC) dominated climates.
As a base for the energy demand calculations, two particular buildings representative of each zone were defined as reference cases. All parameters, such as dwelling floor surface, insulation, etc. were set considering average values, from typical constructions that can be found in each zone. Additional parameters, such as number of occupants and use of appliances were also particularized so that the energy consumption is representative for each case. The energy demand of reference buildings was obtained for various climates. All the combinations result in energy data representative for a significant number of European buildings. This reference data will be used as an input for the design of the systems developed within the project as well as for the extrapolation to various conditions.
Moreover, the design conditions for the heat pumps, as well as the technical, economic and performance Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the TRI-HP systems have been defined. The defined KPIs are used for the evaluation of the experimental tests and simulations at component level (heat pump) and system level.
A first economic assessment was made for the solar ice-slurry system and the dual source system, the two systems developed in TRI-HP project. The costs of the elements not developed during the project are based on Spain and Switzerland case, considering recognized references, such as commercial information and quotation request from well-known manufacturers. A deliverable with title "Economic assessment of TRI-HP solutions" has been submitted and will be available soon.
The costs of the new developments from the project have been estimated for each system. The new developments include the tri-partite gas cooler, the supercooler and the dual-source heat exchanger. Their cost was derived based on the experimental research carried out until the date, as well as future improvements from each of the new developments. All the work developed at this stage of the project serves as a basis for the technical, economic and environmental assessment of the TRI-HP systems along the whole project.